Imaging device and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an imaging device including a photodiode and floating diffusion region formed to be spaced from each other on a surface layer of a pixel region of a silicon (semiconductor) substrate, and a transfer gate having one of a concave and convex portions toward the floating diffusion region, the transfer gate being formed above the silicon substrate between the photodiode and the floating diffusion region by interposing a gate insulating film therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority of Japanese PatentApplication No. 2003-335484 filed on Sep. 26, 2003, the entire contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an imaging device and a manufacturingmethod thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to aCMOS imaging device capable of performing charge transfer efficientlyand to a manufacturing method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, mobile devices such as cellular phones have keptbecoming more and more multifunctional. Among other things, a cameraphone capable of easily taking a moving picture and a static image hasbeen widespread, due to reflection of user's interests. It is necessaryfor such a mobile device to save power so as to be durable for long-timeuse. Moreover, as for a camera (hereinafter, referred to as an imagingelement) mounted on the cellular phone, it is preferable to adopt a CMOSimage sensor, which is more suitable for lowering power consumption incomparison with a CCD. The CMOS image sensor has an advantage of beinginexpensive because it can be fabricated by a CMOS process required forforming a peripheral circuit, as well as an advantage of consuming lesspower.

There are some types in a structure of the CMOS image sensor. One of thestructure types is disclosed in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1. Accordingto the structure, electrons generated in a photodiode pass under atransfer gate and are transferred to a floating diffusion region,charges in the floating diffusion region are converted into a voltage ina drive transistor, and the voltage is outputted as a signal voltage tothe outside.

Need exists, in the CMOS image sensor, not to lower its charge transferefficiency, even if the voltage thereof comes to be lowered. Inconsideration of this point, in Patent Document 1, the transfer gate isextended onto the floating diffusion region as shown in FIG. 6 of thedocument, and thus a capacitive coupling between the transfer gate andthe floating diffusion region is increased. According to this structure,a potential of the floating diffusion region is raised to a positivepotential of the transfer gate due to the capacitive coupling describedabove when a channel of the transfer gate is turned on, resulting inefficient transfer of the electrons from the channel of the transfergate to the floating diffusion region.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, conductivity of a surface layerof a silicon substrate, which serves as the channel of the transfergate, is set at the N type as shown in FIG. 1 of the document. Thus, thechannel and the floating diffusion region are set at the same conductivetype, and the charges are allowed to be transferred smoothly from thetransfer gate to the floating diffusion region.

Besides the above, technologies relating to the present invention arealso disclosed in Patent documents 3 to 5.

(Patent Document 1)

-   Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-101006

(Patent Document 2)

-   Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-115580

(Patent Document 3)

-   Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 8(1996)-335688

(Patent Document 4)

-   Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-152083

(Patent Document 5)

-   Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-110957

However, Patent Document 1 described above does not go beyond disclosingthe structure of extending the transfer gate onto the floating diffusionregion, and does not discover a method for realizing such a structure.

Meanwhile, in Patent Document 2, the conductivity of the entire siliconsubstrate under the transfer gate is set at the N type. Therefore, thechannel of the transfer gate becomes prone to be turned on, and theelectrons accumulated in the photodiode become prone to overflow to thefloating diffusion region through the transfer gate. In such a case, anamount of electrons capable of being accumulated in the photodiode isreduced, and a value of the signal voltage obtained by converting theelectrons to a voltage is also reduced. Accordingly, a ratio (S/N ratio)of the signal voltage value and a noise voltage value becomes reduced,causing a possibility that noise of the imaging device is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is providedan imaging device comprising: a photodiode and a floating diffusionregion formed to be spaced from each other on a surface layer of a pixelregion of a semiconductor substrate; and a transfer gate having eitherof a concave and convex portion toward the floating diffusion region,the transfer gate being formed above the semiconductor substrate betweenthe photodiode and the floating diffusion region by interposing a gateinsulating film therebetween.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedan imaging device comprising: a photodiode; a floating diffusion region;a transfer transistor that transfers charges generated in the photodiodeto the floating diffusion region; a power source line to which a firstvoltage is applied; a reset transistor that resets a voltage of thefloating diffusion region to the first voltage; a signal line; aselection transistor in which a drain is electrically connected to thepower source line; a detection transistor in which a drain iselectrically connected to a source of the selection transistor, a sourceis electrically connected to the signal line, and a gate is electricallyconnected to the floating diffusion region; and a voltage supply circuitthat selectively outputs a second voltage and a third voltage higherthan the second voltage to the signal line, wherein the second voltageis a voltage at which the detection transistor is turned to an ON statewhen the second voltage is outputted to the signal line, the floatingdiffusion region is reset to the first voltage, and the selectiontransistor is in an OFF state.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedan imaging device comprising: a photodiode; a floating diffusion region;a transfer transistor that transfers charges generated in the photodiodeto the floating diffusion region; a power source line to which a firstvoltage is applied; a reset transistor that resets a voltage of thefloating diffusion region to the first voltage; a signal line; aselection transistor in which a drain is electrically connected to thepower source line; a detection transistor in which a drain iselectrically connected to a source of the selection transistor, a sourceis electrically connected to the signal line, and a gate is electricallyconnected to the floating diffusion region; and a voltage supply circuitthat selectively outputs a second voltage and a third voltage higherthan the second voltage, wherein the second voltage is a voltage atwhich the detection transistor is left in an OFF state when the secondvoltage is outputted to the signal line, the floating diffusion regionis reset to the first voltage, and the selection transistor is in an OFFstate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of manufacturing an imaging device comprising: forming a firstinsulating film on a semiconductor substrate; forming a transfer gateand a gate electrode of a reset transistor at an interval on the firstinsulating film; forming a first resist pattern over the semiconductorsubstrate, the first resist pattern having a first window in which afirst side face of the transfer gate and a second side face of the gateelectrode are exposed; forming a floating diffusion region on a surfacelayer of the semiconductor substrate between the transfer gate and thegate electrode by introducing an impurity into a surface layer of thesemiconductor substrate through the first window; removing the firstresist pattern; after removing the first resist pattern, forming asecond resist pattern over the semiconductor substrate, the secondresist pattern covering the second side face of the gate electrode andhaving a second window in which the first side face of the transfer gateare exposed; forming a highly doped region in the floating diffusionregion by introducing the impurity into the surface layer of thesemiconductor substrate through the second window of the second resistpattern; removing the second resist pattern; forming a photodiode in thesurface layer of the semiconductor substrate beside a third side face ofthe transfer gate, the third face being opposite with the first sideface; and forming a drain region of the reset transistor by introducingan impurity into the surface layer of the semiconductor substrate besidea fourth side face of the gate electrode, the fourth side face beingopposite with the second side face.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of manufacturing an imaging device comprising: formingan insulating film on a semiconductor substrate; forming a transfer gateand a gate electrode of a reset transistor at an interval on theinsulating film; forming a resist pattern over the semiconductor, theresist pattern having a window in which a first side face of thetransfer gate and a second side face of the gate electrode are exposed,the first side face and the second side face locating under thedifferent edges of the window; forming a floating diffusion region in asurface layer of the semiconductor substrate between the transfer gateand the gate electrode by introducing an impurity into the surface layerof the semiconductor substrate through the window; forming a highlydoped region in the floating diffusion region by ion-implanting animpurity into the surface layer of the semiconductor substrate throughthe window while tilting the semiconductor substrate to a directionwhere a shadow of the window of the resist pattern appears from thesecond side face of the gate electrode; removing the resist pattern;forming a photodiode in the surface layer of the semiconductor substratebeside a third side face of the transfer gate, the third side face beingopposite with the first side face; and forming a drain region of thereset transistor by introducing an impurity into the surface layer ofthe semiconductor substrate beside a fourth side face of the gateelectrode, the forth side face being opposite with the second side face.

According to the above-described first aspect of the present invention,an opposite area of the transfer gate and the floating diffusion regioncan be made large by the transfer gate having concave or convex portion,and an overlap capacitance between the transfer gate and the floatingdiffusion region can be increased. Hence, when a predetermined potentialis applied to the transfer gate to turn on a channel under the transfergate, a potential of the floating diffusion region is drawn to apotential of the transfer gate to be deepened by the above-describedoverlap capacitance, and charges generated in the photodiode can beefficiently transferred to the floating diffusion region.

In addition, by returning the potential of the transfer gate to anoriginal potential so as to turn off the channel thereunder, thepotential of the floating diffusion region returns to an originalpotential. Accordingly, since a state where a potential differencebetween the floating diffusion region and the semiconductor substrate ishigh does not last for a long time, a junction leakage between thesemiconductor substrate and the floating diffusion region can beprevented, and a highly reliable imaging device can be provided.

Moreover, a reset transistor which uses the floating diffusion region asa source region may be provided in the pixel region, and a peripheralcircuit may be provided in a peripheral circuit region of thesemiconductor substrate. In this case, it is preferable that, in thelateral direction of the semiconductor substrate, a gate electrode ofthe reset transistor overlap the floating diffusion region by a firstwidth, and a gate electrode of a periphery transistor overlap either ofa source region and drain region of the peripheral transistor by asecond width wider than the first width.

With such a structure, an overlap capacitance between the gate electrodeof the reset transistor and the floating diffusion region is madesmaller than an overlap capacitance between the source/drain regions andgate electrode of the peripheral transistor. Hence, when the chargesgenerated in the photodiode are transferred to the floating diffusionregion in a state where the reset transistor is in an OFF state, itbecomes difficult for the potential of the floating diffusion region tobe drawn toward the gate voltage of the reset transistor. Together withthe above, in the case where the floating diffusion region is reset to areset voltage, the voltage of the floating diffusion region can berestricted from being lowered through the above-described overlapcapacitance when the reset transistor is changed from an ON state to anOFF state. Therefore, the potential of the floating diffusion region,which is viewed from the charges, is not made shallow, and the chargetransfer from the photodiode to the floating diffusion region can beperformed efficiently.

Moreover, it is preferable that the transfer gate overlap the floatingdiffusion region by a third width wider than the above-described secondwidth and narrower than a gate length of the above-described transfergate in the lateral direction of the above semiconductor substrate.

With such a structure, the overlap capacitance between the transfer gateand the floating diffusion region is made larger. Accordingly, thepotential of the floating diffusion region can be deepened similarly tothe first aspect of the present invention, and thus the charge transfercan be performed efficiently. In addition, the overlap width (thirdwidth) is shortened more than a gate length of the transfer gate, andaccordingly, conductivity of the entire surface under the transfer gateis not set at the N type as in Patent Document 2. Hence, in the casewhere the charges are electrons, it is possible to completely turn offthe channel under the transfer gate by setting the potential of the gateelectrode at grand potential. Therefore, a sufficient amount of chargescan be reserved in the photodiode before the transfer, and the S/N ratioof the signal can be made larger than in Patent Document 2.

Furthermore, the gate length of the transfer gate is made longer than agate length of the reset transistor. Thus, even if the transfer gate isoverlapped largely with the highly doped region as described above, thelength of the channel under the transfer gate is elongated in comparisonwith the case where the respective gate lengths of the transfer gate andthe reset transistor are equal to each other. Accordingly, a shortchannel effect under the transfer gate can be restricted, andcharacteristics of the transfer gate can be prevented from being largelyvaried for each unit pixel.

Moreover, it is preferable that a channel width of the transfer gate bemade wider than a channel width of the reset transistor. With such astructure, an overlap area of the transfer gate with the floatingdiffusion region can be made relatively larger than an overlap area ofthe gate of the reset transistor with the floating diffusion region.Accordingly, it becomes easy to deepen the potential of the floatingdiffusion region, and the charge transfer can be performed far moreefficiently.

Furthermore, a highly doped region may be formed in the floatingdiffusion region closer to the transfer gate, an impurity concentrationof the highly doped region being higher than other portions of thefloating diffusion region, and an element isolation insulating film maybe formed on a surface layer of the semiconductor substrate defining atleast one edge of the highly doped region. In this case, an insulatingfilm is formed on the highly doped region, a hole is formed in theinsulating film, and a conductive plug electrically connected to thehighly doped region is formed in the hole.

According to this, even if the hole is positionally shifted to reach anend of the element isolation insulating film and to cut the elementisolation insulating film to some extent at the time of forming thehole, it becomes difficult for the conductive plug to reach thesemiconductor substrate under the highly doped region because the highlydoped region is formed deeply at the high concentration in thesemiconductor substrate. Thus, it becomes difficult for the junctionleakage between the silicon substrate and the floating diffusion regionto occur under the conductive plug in comparison with the case offorming only a thin and shallow floating diffusion region withoutforming the highly doped region, and reliability of the imaging devicecan be enhanced.

Note that a detection transistor in which a gate electrode iselectrically connected to the floating diffusion region may be formed inthe pixel region. In this case, it is preferable that a gate electrodeof the detection transistor be overlapped with a source/drain region ofthe detection transistor by a fourth width narrower than theabove-described second width. According to this, an overlap capacitancebetween the source and gate of the detection transistor is made smallerthan that of the peripheral circuit. Accordingly, the gate voltage ofthe detection transistor can be made to sensitively response to thevariations of the charges in the floating diffusion region, and anoutput voltage in response to an amount of the charges can be outputtedfrom the source region of the detection transistor with a goodsensitivity. Furthermore, an overlap width between the source and gateof the detection transistor is narrower in comparison with that of theperipheral circuit. Accordingly, even if the gate length of thedetection transistor is shortened as a result of an increasedminiaturization of the device, a short channel effect of the detectiontransistor can be restricted more than that of the peripheral circuit,and thus the characteristics of the detection transistors can beprevented from being varied among the unit pixels.

Moreover, the transfer gate and the floating diffusion region may becovered with an insulating film whose upper surface is uneven. In thiscase, it is preferable to provide a conductive pattern formed on theinsulating film and in the hole to be electrically connected to thefloating diffusion region and covering the transfer gate and thefloating diffusion region.

With such a structure, unnecessary light that is going to be incidentonto the floating diffusion region can be shielded by the conductivepattern, thus making it possible to prevent noise from being generatedin the floating diffusion region.

In addition, in cooperation with the overlap capacitance between thetransfer gate and the floating diffusion region, the overlap capacitancebetween the conductive pattern and the transfer gate functions so as todeepen the potential of the floating diffusion region, and accordingly,the charge transfer can be performed far more efficiently.

Furthermore, the conductive pattern is formed on the insulating filmwhose upper surface is made uneven without being planarized.Accordingly, an opposite area of the conductive pattern and the transfergate can be made large owing to roughness of a lower surface of theconductive pattern, and the overlap capacitance therebetween can beincreased.

Moreover, in comparison with the case where another planarizedinsulating film is formed on the insulating film and the conductivepattern is formed thereon, a distance between the conductive pattern andthe floating diffusion region can be shortened. Accordingly, it becomesfar more difficult for extra light to invade the floating diffusionregion, and the above-described light shielding effect can be enhanced.

Note that a highly doped region whose impurity concentration is higherthan other portions of the floating diffusion region may be formed inthe floating diffusion region in a portion extending from a side of thetransfer gate to a portion under the above-described hole.

In this case, it is preferable to form an amorphous silicon film as alowermost layer of the conductive pattern. With such a structure, thejunction leakage between the highly doped region and the semiconductorsubstrate under the hole can be reduced in comparison with the casewhere the conductive pattern is constituted of a metal film and anelectrical connection between the metal film and the highly doped regionis performed by the conductive plug in the hole and the like.

According to the above-described second aspect of the present invention,as the above-described second voltage, adopted is a voltage at which thedetection transistor is turned to an ON state when the second voltage isoutputted to the signal line, the floating diffusion region is reset tothe first voltage, and the selection transistor is in an OFF state.According to this, at the time of the charge transfer, the potential ofthe floating diffusion region can be deepened through the capacitancebetween the channel and gate of the detection transistor by raising thepotential of the signal line from the second voltage to the thirdvoltage, and hence the charge transfer efficiency can be enhanced.

In addition, it is when the potential of the signal line is raised fromthe second voltage to the third voltage that the potential of thefloating diffusion region is deepened. Other than this time, theabove-described capacitance between the channel and the gate is notformed. Hence, a state where a potential difference between the floatingdiffusion region and the semiconductor substrate is large does not lastlong. Therefore, the junction leakage between the floating diffusionregion and the semiconductor substrate can be reduced.

Furthermore, according to this, it is not necessary to provide a largeoverlap capacitance between the transfer gate and the floating diffusionregion, and accordingly, a floating capacitance of the signal line canbe prevented from being increased due to the overlap capacitance, andthus a signal delay of the signal line can be reduced.

According to the above-described third aspect of the present invention,as the above-described second voltage, adopted is a voltage at which thedetection transistor is left in an OFF state when the second voltage isoutputted to the signal line, the floating diffusion region is reset tothe first voltage, and the selection transistor is in an OFF state.According to this, the voltage of the floating diffusion region israised toward the second voltage of the signal line by the overlapcapacitance between the gate and source of the detection transistor, andhence the potential of the floating diffusion region, which is viewedfrom the charges, is deepened, so the charge transfer can be performedefficiently.

Furthermore, the capacitance between the channel and gate of thedetection transistor is not created in a state where the second voltageis outputted to the signal line. Accordingly, the floating capacitanceof the signal line connected to the source of the detection transistoris not increased by the above-described capacitance between the channeland the gate, and thus the signal delay of the signal line can bereduced.

Note that, in the above-described second and third aspects of thepresent invention, the second voltage is supplied from a voltage supplycircuit to the signal line, and the reset transistor is turned to an ONstate, whereby the voltage of the floating diffusion region is reset tothe first voltage. Moreover, the reset transistor is turned to an OFFstate, and the third voltage is supplied from the voltage supply circuitto the signal line, whereby the voltage of the floating diffusion regionis raised. Furthermore, the transfer transistor is turned to an ONstate, whereby the charges generated in the photodiode is transferred tothe floating diffusion region. According to these operations, it becomeseasy to obtain the respective advantages described above.

Moreover, in any of the above-described aspects of the presentinvention, it is only at the time of the charge transfer that thepotential of the floating diffusion region is deepened. Therefore, evenif a standby time, which starts after the charge transfer and endsbefore the signal reading, is elongated to some extent, for example, 1millisecond or more, the junction leakage between the floating diffusionregion and the semiconductor substrate can be reduced.

Furthermore, in a method where charge transfer from the photodiode tothe floating diffusion region is performed for all rows collectively,followed by reading out a source voltage of the detection transistor asa signal voltage for each row, each row has a different standby timefrom the charge transfer to the reading out and the standby time iselongated in more rear rows. However, in the present invention, thejunction leakage is reduced as described above, and accordingly, thismethod can be suitably adopted.

According to the above-described fourth aspect of the present invention,the highly doped region is formed in the floating diffusion region.Accordingly, an impurity in the highly doped region is diffused into thesemiconductor substrate below the transfer gate, and thus a largeoverlap capacitance can be created between the floating diffusion regionand the transfer gate, and hence an imaging device in which the chargetransfer efficiency is enhanced can be manufactured.

Moreover, after forming the, highly doped region, a silicide layer maybe formed on a surface layer of the above-described drain region whilecovering the floating diffusion region with the second insulating film,and a third insulating film covering the silicide layer and the floatingdiffusion region may be formed. In this case, it is preferable to form afirst hole for getting contact with the highly doped region and a secondhole for getting contact with the silicide layer in the third insulatingfilm. Then, by employing fist and second etching conditions differentfrom each other for the first and second holes, contact characteristicsof the respective holes can be prevented from being varied by the factthat one hole is cut deeper than the other hole due to a differencebetween materials under the respective holes.

According to the above-described fifth aspect of the present invention,at the time of forming the highly doped region by angledion-implantation, the highly doped region is not formed in the floatingdiffusion region closer to the gate electrode of the reset transistor.Therefore, the impurity is hardly diffused under the gate electrode ofthe reset transistor, and accordingly, the overlap capacitance betweenthe gate electrode of the reset transistor and the floating diffusionregion can be reduced.

In this case, the angled ion-implantation is performed while tilting thesemiconductor substrate to a direction where the impurity is implantedunder the first side face of the transfer gate, and thus the impurity isimplanted under the transfer gate. Accordingly, the highly doped regioncan be overlapped with the transfer gate before the impurity isdiffused. Hence, when the impurity is diffused by a heat treatmentprocess, the highly doped region overlaps the transfer gate largely incomparison with the fourth aspect of the present invention, andaccordingly, the overlap capacitance between the highly doped region andthe transfer gate is made further larger, and the charge transferefficiency can be further enhanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an imaging device according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a unit pixel of the imaging deviceaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing an operation of the imaging deviceaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A to 4L are cross-sectional views of principal portions of theimaging device in steps of a manufacturing process in accordance withthe first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5 to 8 are plan views of the principal portions of the imagingdevice in the steps of the manufacturing process in accordance with thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a view showing a state of a potential of the imaging deviceaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are views where a variety of capacitances areadditionally written to the cross section of the imaging device of thefirst embodiment in order to describe advantages of the first embodimentof the present invention qualitatively;

FIG. 12 is a graph showing C₂ (overlap capacitance between a transfergate and a floating diffusion region) dependency of a difference(VR⁽²⁾−VR⁽⁰⁾) between depths of potentials in a floating diffusionregion before and after charge transfer in the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 13 is a graph showing C₂ dependency of a sensitivity in the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a graph showing C₂ dependency of a product of an equation (7)and an equation (8) in the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of principal portions of an imagingdevice at some midpoint of a manufacturing process in conformity with asecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B are plane layouts of imaging devices to which bothof the first and second embodiments of the present invention aresuitably applied;

FIG. 16C is a plane layout of an imaging device to which only the firstembodiment is suitably applied;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of principal portions of an imaging deviceaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B are plan views showing modification examples ofthe imaging device according to the third embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of principal portions of an imagingdevice according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 20A to 20G are cross-sectional views of principal portions of animaging device in steps of a manufacturing process in accordance with afifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a plan view of the principal portions of the imaging deviceat some midpoint of the manufacturing process in accordance with thefifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22A and FIG. 22B are cross-sectional views of principal portions ofan imaging device in steps of a manufacturing process in accordance witha sixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23A and FIG. 23B are cross-sectional views of principal portions ofan imaging device in steps of a manufacturing process in accordance witha seventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a plan view of the principal portions of the imaging deviceat some midpoint of the manufacturing process in accordance with theseventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a circuit diagram of an imaging device according to an eighthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram of a unit pixel and voltage supply circuitof the imaging device according to the eighth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 27 is a timing chart showing an operation of the imaging deviceaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a view where a variety of capacitances are additionallywritten to the cross section of the imaging device in order to describedadvantages of the eighth embodiment of the present inventionqualitatively;

FIG. 29 is a plan view schematically showing a reading operation of animaging device according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 30 is across-sectional view of an imaging device unit according toan eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The best mode for practicing the present invention will be describedbelow in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First Embodiment)

First, an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of the imaging device according to thisembodiment.

This imaging device is a CMOS image sensor, and can take both of amoving picture and a static image.

As shown in FIG. 1, this image sensor is broadly divided into a pixelregion A and a peripheral circuit region B when viewed from the above. aplurality of unit pixels U are repeatedly arrayed in row and columndirections on the pixel region A.

On the other hand, a row selection circuit 90, a signal reading/noisecancel circuit 91, and a column amplifier/AD conversion circuit 92 areformed on the peripheral circuit region B, as shown in the figure. Rowselection line SEL, reset line RST, transfer gate line TG, and overflowdrain line OFD, which is common to the unit pixels U in one row, iselectrically connected to the row selection circuit 90. A verticalsignal line CL, which is common to the unit pixels in one column, iselectrically connected to the signal reading/noise cancel circuit 91.

Signal voltages read out of the respective unit pixels U are inputted tothe signal reading/noise cancel circuit 91 through the vertical signalline CL. The signal voltages include noise because of variations intransistors manufactured in the unit pixels U. The signal reading/noisecancel circuit 91 performs correlated double sampling (CDS) in order toremove the noise, and thereafter, outputs clear signal voltages withoutthe noise to the column amplifier/AD conversion circuit 92.

The signal voltages are amplified to an appropriate voltage value in thecolumn amplifier/AD conversion circuit 92, and then outputted to theoutside of the image sensor.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the unit pixel U.

As shown in FIG. 2, the unit pixel U includes a photodiode PD whichgenerates electrons in accordance with an amount of received light, anda transfer transistor TR_(TG) for transferring electrons generated inthe photodiode PD to a floating diffusion region 22 in a subsequentstage. The floating diffusion region 22, also serving as a source of areset transistor TR_(RST), is formed by introducing an N-type impurityonto a silicon substrate, and is electrically connected to a gateelectrode of a detection transistor TR_(SF). Then, a drain of aselection transistor TR_(SEL) is electrically connected to a source ofthe detection transistor TR_(SF).

According to such a circuit configuration, the detection transistorTR_(SF) functions as a source follower. Accordingly, a gate voltage ofthe detection transistor TR_(SF) is changed in accordance with theamount of electrons accumulated in the floating diffusion region 22, andan output voltage in accordance with the amount of light received by thephotodiode can be obtained from the source of the TR_(SF).

Next, an operation of the imaging device according to this embodimentwill be briefly described with reference to FIG. 3. Note that, in thedescription below, FIGS. 1 and 2 are also referred to in combinationwith FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of this CMOS imagesensor.

As shown in FIG. 3, in a first step, the reset lines RST (see FIG. 2) inall the rows are set at a high level, and the reset transistors TR_(RST)in all the rows are set to an ON state collectively. Thus, charges whichhave remained in the floating diffusion region 22 are discharged to theoutside through the reset transistors TR_(RST), and potentials of thefloating diffusion regions 22 in all the rows are reset to a resetvoltage VR⁽⁰⁾ (for example, 1.8V) of power source lines VR collectively.Thereafter, the reset lines RST in all the rows are set at a low level,and the reset transistors TR_(RST) of all the unit pixels U are turnedto an OFF state. Note that, in this step, the transistors other than thereset transistor TR_(RST) in FIG. 2 remain OFF.

Next, the transfer gate lines TG in all the rows are set at the highlevel, and the transfer transistors TR_(TG) in all the unit pixels U areturned to an ON state collectively. Consequently, in all the unit pixelsU, the electrons accumulated in the photodiodes PD are transferred tothe floating diffusion regions 22 through the channels of the transfertransistors TR_(TG) collectively. Furthermore, the transfer of theelectrons lowers the potentials of the floating impurity regions 22 by Vin accordance with the amount of the transferred electrons.

Thereafter, the transfer gate lines TG of all the rows are returned tothe low level, and the transfer transistors TR_(TG) of all the pixelsare turned to an OFF state collectively.

Subsequently, the overflow drain lines OFD in all the rows are set atthe high level, and the overflow drain transistors TR_(OFD) of all theunit pixels U are turned to an ON state collectively, and the electronsremaining in the photodiodes PD are discharged to the outside from theoverflow drain transistors TR_(OFD). Thereafter, the overflow drainlines OFD of all the rows are set at the low level, and the overflowdrain transistors TR_(OFD) are turned to an OFF state collectively.

Subsequently, the row selection line SEL in an n-th row is set at thehigh level, and all the selection transistors TR_(SEL) in the n-th row,which are connected to the row selection line SEL, are turned to an ONstate collectively. Thus, source voltages of the detection transistorsTR_(SF) in the respective rows will be outputted as signal voltages inunison to the vertical signal line CL connected to the concerned rows.The outputted signal voltages reflect the amount of light received bythe photodiodes PD, and is sample-held in the signal reading/noisecancel circuit 91 (see FIG. 1). Thereafter, the row selection line SELin the n-th row is set at the low level, and the selection transistorsTR_(SEL) in the n-th row are turned to an OFF state.

Next, the reset line RST in the n-th row is set at the high level again,and the reset transistors in the n-th row are set to an ON state.Consequently, the electrons in the floating diffusion regions 22 aredischarged to the outside through the reset transistors TR_(RST), andthe potentials of the floating diffusion regions 22 are reset again tothe reset voltage VR⁽⁰⁾ (approximately 1.8V). Thereafter, the reset lineRST is set at the low level, and the reset transistors TR_(RST) areturned to the OFF state.

Subsequently, the row selection line SEL in the n-th row is set at thehigh level again, and the selection transistors TR_(SEL) in the n-th roware set to an ON state. Thus, signal voltages in the case where signalcharges do not exist in the floating diffusion regions 22 (hereinafter,referred to as dark voltages) are outputted to the signal reading/noisecancel circuit 91 (see FIG. 1) from the vertical signal lines CL in therespective rows.

CDS is performed in the signal reading/noise cancel circuit 91, in whichdifferences between signal voltage sample-held therein andabove-described dark voltages is obtained. Thus, the noise included inthe signal voltages is canceled, and the signal voltages in which thenoise is lowered are outputted to the subsequent stage.

After reading the signals in the n-th row as described above, the samereading is also performed sequentially for the rows in the n+1-th row.Thus, the signal voltages of all the pixels are obtained, and one staticimage is obtained.

Next, a manufacturing method of the imaging device according to thepresent embodiment will be described.

FIGS. 4A to 4L are cross-sectional views of principal portions of animaging device in steps of a manufacturing process in conformity withthe present embodiment.

Note that FIGS. 5 to 8 are also referred to below in combination. FIGS.5 to 8 are plan views showing the principal portions of the imagingdevice in the steps of the manufacturing process in conformity with thepresent embodiment.

First, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4A will be described.

First, a trench for shallow trench isolation (STI) is formed in asurface of a P-type silicon substrate 1, and an SiO₂ film is buried intothe trench as an element isolation insulating film 4. A structure ofelement isolation is not limited to the STI, and local oxidation ofsilicon (LOCOS) may also be used for the element isolation.

Next, ion implantation is performed for the silicon substrate 1 whilecovering the entire surface of the pixel region A with a resist pattern(not shown), and thus a P well 2 and an N well 3 are formed in thesilicon substrate 1 of the peripheral circuit region B. Note that boronis used as a P-type impurity, and that phosphorus is used as an N-typeimpurity. These impurities are separately implanted by use of differentresist patterns for each well.

Next, after a resist pattern covering the entire surface of theperipheral circuit region B is formed on the silicon substrate 1, boronis ion-implanted into the pixel region A as the P-type impurity, andthus a P well 2 a is formed in the pixel region A.

Thereafter, a thermal oxidation film is formed on the surface of thesilicon substrate 1 to a thickness of 5 to 10 nm, and the thermaloxidation film is used as a first insulating film 5.

Next, a polysilicon film is formed on the entire surface of the firstinsulating film 5 to a thickness of 100 to 250 nm by a thermal CVDmethod using SiH₄ gas. Thereafter, the polysilicon film is patterned bya photolithography method, and thus first to sixth gate electrodes 6 to11 and a transfer gate 12 are formed at intervals. The transfer gate 12functions as the gate electrode of the transfer transistor TR_(TG) (seeFIG. 2).

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4B will be described. First, a resist pattern (not shown) having awindow on the N well 3 is formed on the silicon substrate 1, and boron,as the P-type impurity, is ion-implanted into the N well 3 while usingthe resist pattern as a mask. Thus, first and second P-type diffusionregions 13 and 14 is formed on both sides of the first gate electrode 6.Thereafter, the above-described resist pattern is removed.

Subsequently, a first resist pattern 43 is formed. The first resistpattern 43 covers a portion of the silicon substrate 1, which extendsfrom the third gate electrode 8 to the fourth gate electrode 9, andcovers the N well 3. Then, phosphorus is ion-implanted into the siliconsubstrate 1 under conditions where acceleration energy is 20 keV and adose amount is 4×10¹³ cm⁻², while using the first resist pattern as amask. At the time of this ion implantation, the second to sixth gateelectrodes 7 to 11 and the transfer gate 12 serve as masks, andaccordingly, first to sixth N-type diffusion regions 15 to 20 is formedon sides of these gate electrodes in a self-aligning manner.

Thereafter, the first resist pattern 43 is removed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, a second resist pattern 21 having a firstwindow 21 a between the transfer gate 12 and the fourth gate electrode 9is formed above the semiconductor substrate 1. The first window 21 a isopened so as to have a size sufficient to expose a first side face 12 aof the transfer gate 12 and a second side face 9 a of the fourth gateelectrode 9 that is opposite to the transfer gate 12.

Thereafter, N-type impurity, such as phosphorus, is ion-implanted into asurface layer of the semiconductor substrate 1 through the first window21 a by use of conditions where a concentration of the impurity is lowerthan that in the first to sixth N-type diffusion regions 15 to 20, forexample, where the acceleration energy is 20 keV and the dose amount is0.5×10¹³ to 1×10 cm⁻¹. Thus, the floating diffusion region 22 is formedin the self-aligning manner between the sides of the gates 9 and 12exposed to the first window 21 while using these gates as masks.

Thereafter, the second resist pattern 21 is removed.

A plan view after the end of this process becomes as shown in FIG. 5.The cross-sectional view of the peripheral circuit region B of FIG. 4Cshown in the above corresponds to a cross section along a line I-I ofFIG. 5, and the cross-sectional view of the pixel region A thereofcorresponds to a cross section along a line II-II of FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 5, a periphery of the unit pixel U is surrounded by theelement isolation insulating film 4, and the unit pixel U has a planelayout in which both of the floating diffusion region 22 and the fourthN-type diffusion region 18 are bent in an L shape. When such a planelayout is employed, the unit pixels U can be arrayed in high density inmatrix while widening a light receiving area of each photodiode formedbetween the third gate electrode 8 and the transfer gate 12, and ahigher density of the device can be achieved.

Incidentally, when a heat treatment process is performed after the endof the above-described ion implantations, phosphorus in the floatingdiffusion region 22 is diffused in a lateral direction of the siliconsubstrate 1, and diffused under the transfer gate 12 and the fourth gateelectrode 9. Hence, when viewed from above the silicon substrate 1, thefloating diffusion region 22 overlaps both the transfer gate 12 and thefourth gate electrode 9 with a width d1. The width d1 becomes 0.00 to0.05 μm under the above-described ion implantation conditions. However,it is preferable to set the width d1 at 0.03 μm by optimizing the ionimplantation conditions appropriately.

For a similar reason, the first to sixth N-type diffusion regions 15 to20 formed previously before the floating diffusion region 22 are seen tooverlap the second to sixth gate electrodes 7 to 11 with a width d2.However, since an impurity concentration of these first to sixth N-typediffusion regions is higher than that of the floating diffusion region22, the N-type diffusion regions 15 to 20 spread more than the floatingdiffusion region 22 in the lateral direction. Consequently, the overlapwidth d2 becomes wider than the first width d1 and, becomesapproximately 0.05 μm for example.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4D, a third resist pattern 23 is formedabove the silicon substrate 1. The third resist pattern covers thesecond side face 9 a of the fourth gate electrode 9, and has a secondwindow 23 a, from which the first side face 12 a of the transfer gate 12exposes. The second window 23 a is formed so as to be spaced from thesecond side face 9 a by a sufficient distance D, for example, 0.2 μm ormore.

Then, N-type impurity, such as phosphorus, is ion implanted into thesurface layer of the silicon substrate 1 through the second window 23 aunder the conditions where the impurity concentration is increased morethan in the case of forming the first to sixth N-type diffusion regions15 to 20 and the floating diffusion region 22, for example, conditionswhere the acceleration energy 20 keV and the dose amount is 1×10⁴ to2×10¹⁵ cm⁻². Thus, a highly doped region 22 a is formed in the floatingdiffusion region 22 closer to the transfer gate 12.

In the case of this ion implantation, the transfer gate 12 exposed tothe second window 23 a serves as a mask, and therefore, the highly dopedregion 22 a is formed in the self-aligning manner with respect to thetransfer gate 12 immediately after the ion implantation. However, thephosphorus concentration in the highly doped region 22 a is high, andaccordingly, phosphorus in the highly doped region 22 a is diffused muchunder the transfer gate 12 when the heat treatment process is performed.Thus, a structure in which the highly doped region 22 a is extendedunder the transfer gate 12 is obtained.

Meanwhile, in the highly doped region 22 a closer to the fourth gateelectrode 9, the second window 22 a is spaced from the fourth gateelectrode 9 by the sufficient distance D. Accordingly, phosphorus in thehighly doped region 22 a is not diffused under the fourth gate electrode9, or the highly doped region 22 a is not extended under the fourth gateelectrode 9.

Thereafter, the third resist pattern 23 is removed.

A plan view after the end of this process becomes as shown in FIG. 6.The cross-sectional view of the peripheral circuit region B of FIG. 4Dshown in the above corresponds to a cross section along a line I-I ofFIG. 6, and the cross-sectional view of the pixel region A thereofcorresponds to a cross section along a line II-II of FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, both edges of the highly doped region 22 a aredefined by the element isolation insulating film 4. Then, the highlydoped region 22 a overlaps the transfer gate 12 with a third width d3.The impurity concentration of the highly doped region is set higher incomparison with that of the first to sixth N-type diffusion regions 15to 20 and the floating diffusion region 22. Therefore, the width d3 iswidened more than the widths d1 and d2 mentioned above. The width d3becomes approximately 0.05 to 0.30 μm under the above-described ionimplantation conditions. However, it is preferable to set the width atapproximately 0.15 μm by optimizing the ion implantation conditionsappropriately.

It should be noted that a relationship among the widths d1 to d3 isrepresented as d1<d2<d3 according to the above processes.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4E will be described.

First, phosphorus is ion-implanted plural times, for example, twice tofour times into the photodiode forming region between the third gateelectrode 8 and the transfer gate 12 under conditions where theacceleration energy is 30 to 300 keV and the dose amount is 1×10¹² to5×10¹² cm⁻². Thus, an embedded N-type diffusion layer 24 is formed. Byperforming the ion implantation plural times as described above, theembedded N-type diffusion layer 24 can be formed deeply into thesubstrate, and a concentration profile of the impurity can be madeuniform in the depth direction.

Thereafter, boron is ion-implanted into the surface layer of theembedded N-type diffusion layer 24 under conditions where theacceleration energy is 10 to 30 keV and the dose amount is approximately1×10¹³ cm⁻², and thus a P⁺ shield layer 25 is formed. Thus, a P⁺NP-typeembedded photodiode PD constructed from the P-type silicon substrate 1,the embedded N-type diffusion layer 24 and the P⁺ shield layer 25 isformed beside the side of the third side face 12 b opposite with thefirst side face 12 a. The P⁺ shield layer 25 prevents the N-typediffusion layer 24 thereunder from being brought into wide contact withthe first insulating film 5 made of SiO₂, and plays a role of reducing ajunction leakage along an interface between the embedded N-typediffusion layer 25 and the first insulating film 5.

Note that phosphorus and boron is separately ion-implanted usingdifferent resists in the above ion implantation.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4F, as a second insulating film 26 covering thefirst to sixth gate electrodes 6 to 11, the diffusion regions 13 to 20and the floating diffusion region 22, an SiO₂ film is formed to athickness of approximately 100 nm by the CVD method. Note that a siliconnitride film formed by a reduced pressure CVD method may be used as thesecond insulating film 26. In the case of forming the silicon nitridefilm as described above, a substrate temperature at the time ofdeposition is maintained at, for example, 700 to 800° C.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4G, a fourth resist pattern 27 covering thesecond insulating film 26 on the floating diffusion region 22 and photodiode (PD) are formed, and then the first and second insulating films 5and 26 are anisotropically etched by reactive ion etching (RIE) whileusing the fourth resist pattern 27 as a mask. Consequently, the secondinsulating film 26 is left as insulating sidewalls 26 a to 26 j on theside surfaces of the respective gate electrodes 6 to 11, and the firstinsulating film 5 is patterned to be left as gate insulating films 5 ato 5 e under the respective gate electrodes 6 to 11.

Note that the second insulating film 26 under the fourth resist pattern27 is left without being etched. Moreover, the gate insulating film 5 cis common to the third and fourth gate electrodes 8 and 9 and thetransfer gate 12.

Thereafter, the fourth resist pattern 27 is removed.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4H will be described.

First, phosphorus is ion-implanted in high concentration into the firstto sixth N-type diffusion regions 15 to 20 while using the second tosixth gate electrodes 7 to 11 and the insulating sidewalls 26 c to 26 jformed on the side surfaces thereof as masks under conditions where theacceleration energy is 20 keV and the dose amount is 2×10¹⁵ cm⁻². Thus,the respective N-type diffusion regions 15 to 20 are made into lightlydoped drain (LDD) structures. Furthermore, boron is ion-implanted intothe first and second P-type diffusion regions 13 and 14, and theseregions 13 and 14 are also made into the LDD structures.

Subsequently, after removing natural oxidation films formed on surfacesof each diffusion layers 13 to 20 and gate electrodes 6 to 11 by HFtreatment or the like, a cobalt layer is formed on the entire surface toa thickness of approximately 5 to 30 nm by a sputtering method. Notethat a refractory metal layer, such as titanium layer and nickel layer,may be formed in place of the cobalt layer.

Next, rapid thermal anneal (RTA), in which the substrate temperature is500 to 600° C. and a treatment time is approximately 30 to 90 seconds,is performed to react the cobalt layer and silicon with each other, andthus cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28 h are formed on the surfaces ofthe each diffusion layers 13 to 20. The cobalt silicide layers are alsoformed on upper surfaces of the each gate electrodes 6 to 11, andelectrical resistances of these gate electrodes 6 to 11 are lowered.Thereafter, unreacted cobalt layers are removed by wet etching.

According to the processes described above, a complementary MOSstructure (CMOS) structure, in which peripheral transistors TRp and TRNof P-channel and N-channel types are adjacent to each other, is formedin the peripheral circuit region B. The peripheral transistors TR_(P)and TR_(N) use the P-type diffusion regions 13 and 14 and the N-typediffusion regions 15 and 16 as their source/drain regions respectively.

Moreover, in the pixel region A, the overflow drain transistor TR_(OFD),the transfer transistor TR_(TG), the reset transistor TR_(RST), thedetection transistor TR_(SF), and the selection transistor TR_(SEL) areformed as illustrated. Among these transistors, the transfer transistorTR_(TG) uses the photodiode PD as a source region, and uses the floatingdiffusion region 22 as a drain region.

Note that the fourth N-type diffusion region 18, exposed to a side ofthe fourth side face 9 b opposite with the second side face 9 a,functions as a drain region of the reset transistor TR_(RST). Then, thefloating diffusion region 22 functions as the source region of the resettransistor TR_(RST).

Then, the detection transistor TR_(SF) uses the fourth N-type diffusionregion 18 as a source region, and uses a fifth N-type diffusion region19 as a drain region.

A plan view after the end of this process becomes as shown in FIG. 7.The cross-sectional view of the peripheral circuit region B of FIG. 4Hshown in the above corresponds to a cross section along a line I-I ofFIG. 7, and the cross-sectional view of the pixel region A thereofcorresponds to a cross section along a line II-II of FIG. 7.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4I will be described.

First, an SiO₂ film is formed as a third insulating film 29 above theentire surface of the silicon substrate 1 by a high density plasma CVD(HDPCVD) method, and spaces between the respective transistors TR_(P),TR_(N), TR_(OFD), TR_(TG), TR_(RST), TR_(SF) and TR_(SEL) are filledwith the third insulating film 29. Thereafter, an upper surface of thethird insulating film 29 is polished to be planarized by a chemicalmechanical polishing (CMP) method, and a thickness of the thirdinsulating film 29 on the plane surface of the silicon substrate 1 isset at approximately 700 nm. An additional SiN film of the thicknessabout 50 to 100 nm may be formed under the third insulating film 29.

Thereafter, photoresist is coated on the third insulating film 29, andthen exposed and developed. Thus, a resist pattern (not shown) having ahole-shaped window is formed on the highly doped region 22 a.Subsequently, a first hole 29 a is formed in the gate insulating film 5c, the second insulating film 26 and the third insulating film 29 on thehighly doped region 22 a by RIE using gas mixture of CF₄ and CHF₃ as anetching gas, under a first etching condition where an etch rate for SiO₂is higher than that for silicon. In the case where the additional SiN isformed under the third insulating film 29, similar etching condition isapplicable.

Thereafter, the resist pattern on the third insulating film 29 isremoved.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4J will be described.

First, a resist pattern (not shown) having a hole-shaped window on therespective cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28 f and 28 h is formed on thethird insulating film 29. Then, second holes 29 b to 29 h are formed onthe respective cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28 f and 28 h by RIE usingthe gas mixture of CF₄ and CHF₃ as etching gas, under a second etchingcondition where the etch rate for SiO₂ is higher than that for thecobalt silicide.

Incidentally, though the first hole 29 a and the second holes 29 b to 29h are formed under the different etching conditions in the above, it isconceivable that the respective holes 29 a and 29 b are formedsimultaneously under the same etching condition in place of the above.However, according to this method, while the etching is stopped underthe second holes 29 b to 29 h by the cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28 fserving as etching stoppers, a film serving as the etching stopper isnot present under the first hole 29 a. Accordingly, the siliconsubstrate 1 under the first hole 29 a is dug, bringing a disadvantage inthat contact characteristic of the first hole 29 a is varied.

On the contrary, as described above, the first hole 29 a and the secondholes 29 b to 29 h are formed separately, and the first hole 29 a isformed under the first etching condition where silicon serves as theetching stopper, thus making it possible to stop the etching for thefirst hole 29 a on the upper surface of the silicon substrate 1, and toprevent the contract characteristics of the first hole 29 a from beingvaried for each of the unit pixels U.

Note that a similar advantage to the above can be obtained even if aforming order of the holes is made reverse to the above, in which thefirst hole 29 a is formed under the first etching condition afterforming the second holes 29 b to 29 h under the second etchingconditions.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4K will be described.

First, by the sputtering method, a Ti film and a TiN film are formed asa glue film in this order on inner surfaces of the first and secondholes 29 a and 29 b to 29 h and the upper surface of the thirdinsulating film 29. Each of the Ti film and TiN film is formed to athickness, for example, of 30 nm. Subsequently, a tungsten (W) film isformed on this glue film by a CVD method using WF₆ gas, thus completelyembedding the insides of the first and second holes 29 a and 29 b by theW film. Thereafter, extra glue film and W film formed on the uppersurface of the third insulating film 29 are removed by the CMP method,and remaining films are left in the first and second holes 29 a and 29 bto 29 h as first and second conductive plugs 30 a and 30 b to 30 h.

The first conductive plug 30 a is electrically connected to the highlydoped region 22 a, and the second conductive plugs 30 b to 30 h areelectrically connected via the cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28 hlocated thereunder to the respective diffusion regions 13 to 20.

Subsequently, as a metal stack film, a Ti film with a thickness of 30nm, a TiN film with a thickness of 30 nm, an Al film with a thickness of300 to 500 nm, a Ti film with a thickness of 5 to 10 nm, and a TiN filmwith a thickness of 50 to 100 nm, are formed in this order by thesputtering method on the respective upper surfaces of the thirdinsulating film and conductive plugs 30 a and 30 b to 30 h. Thereafter,this metal stack layer film is patterned by the photolithography methodand formed as first level metal wiring 31 electrically connected to therespective conductive plugs 30 a and 30 b to 30 h.

A plan view after the end of this process is as shown in FIG. 8. Thecross-sectional view of the peripheral circuit region B of FIG. 4K shownin the above corresponds to a cross section along a line I-I of FIG. 8,and the cross-sectional view of the pixel region A thereof correspondsto a cross section along a line II-II of FIG. 8. However, the second andthird insulating films 26 and 29 are omitted in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 8, although third conductive plugs 30 p to 30 v areformed on the respective gates 6 to 11, these conductive plugs areformed simultaneously with the second conductive plugs 30 b to 30 h (seeFIG. 4K). Then, the first level metal wiring 31 on the first conductiveplug 30 a is extended onto the third conductive plug 30 u on a fifthgate electrode 10. Thus, a structure in which the floating diffusionregion 22 and the gate (fifth gate electrode 10) of the detectiontransistor TR_(SF) are electrically connected to each other is obtained.Note that the first level metal wiring 31 other than the above isomitted in FIG. 8 for simplifying the drawing.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 4L will be obtained.

First, an SiO₂ film is formed as a fourth insulating film 32 on thefirst level metal wiring 31 and the third insulating film 29 by theHDPCVD method. Thereafter, an upper surface of the fourth insulatingfilm 32 is polished to be planarized by the CMP method. Subsequently, asimilar process to those for the first and second conductive plugs 30 aand 30 b and the first level metal wiring 31 is performed, thus forminga fourth conductive plug 33 and second level metal wiring 34.

Furthermore, the process as described above is repeatedly performed, anda fifth insulating film 35, fifth conductive plugs 36, third-layer metalwiring 37, a sixth insulating film 38, sixth conductive plugs 39, andfourth-layer metal wiring 40, are formed in this order.

The fourth-layer metal wiring 40, serving as metal wiring on theuppermost layer, has a window 40 a above the photodiode PD, and isformed so as to cover the pixel region A of the portion other than thephotodiode PD, and also serves to function as a light-shielding filmpreventing incidence of unnecessary light onto the photodiode PD.

Subsequently, as a seventh insulating film 41 covering the fourth-layermetal wiring 40, a SiO₂ film is formed by the HDPCVD method, and anupper surface of the seventh insulating film 41 is polished to beplanarized by the CMP method.

Then finally, as a cover film 42 protecting the device, an SiN film isformed to a thickness of approximately 300 to 700 nm on the seventhinsulating film 41 by the plasma CVD method.

In accordance with the processes described above, a basic structure ofthe imaging device according to the present invention is completed. Thisimaging device is a CMOS image sensor fabricated by the CMOS process.

According to this embodiment described above, as shown in the plan viewof FIG. 7, the highly doped region 22 a is provided in the floatingdiffusion region 22, and the side face 12 a of the transfer gate 12 isallowed to overlap the floating diffusion region 22 by use of theexpansion of the impurity of the highly doped region 22 a, and theoverlap width d3 is made wider than the overlap width d2 in theperipheral transistor.

With such a structure, as depicted in FIG. 9 showing a potential, when apositive potential is applied to the transfer gate 12 to turn on thechannel under the transfer gate 12, the potential of the floatingdiffusion region 22 is raised to the positive potential side of thetransfer gate 22 by an overlap capacitance between the transfer gate 12and the floating diffusion region 22. Hence, when viewed from theelectrons transferred from the photodiode PD to the floating diffusionregion 22, the potential of the floating diffusion region 22 becomesdeep and, accordingly, a potential gradient becomes steep along atransfer path of the electrons, thus making it possible to transfer theelectrons from the photodiode PD to the floating diffusion region 22smoothly.

Furthermore, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 3, the transfer gateline TG is set at the low level at the time other than the chargetransfer. Accordingly, the potential of the floating diffusion region 22is also lowered through the above-described overlap capacitance, thusmaking it possible to lower a potential difference between the floatingdiffusion region 22 and the silicon substrate 1, and to reduce thejunction leakage therebetween.

Moreover, the third width d3 shown in FIG. 7 is shorter than a gatelength of the transfer gate 12, and the conductivity of the entiresurface under the transfer gate 12 is not set at the N type as in PatentDocument 2. Accordingly, the channel under the transfer gate 12 can becompletely turned to an OFF state by setting the transfer gate 12 at aground potential. Therefore, before the charge transfer, the electronsgenerated in the photodiode PD do not overflow to the floating diffusionregion 22 through the transfer gate 12 as in Patent Document 2.Therefore, before the charge transfer, more electrons can be accumulatedin the photodiode PD than in Patent Document 2. Consequently, themagnitude of the signal voltage obtained by converting the electronsinto a voltage is increased more than in Patent Document 2, thus makingit possible to enhance the transfer efficiency of the electrons whilepreventing the S/N ratio of the signal voltage from being reduced.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 7,the impurity concentration of the portion of the floating diffusionregion 22, which locates at the side of the fourth gate electrode 9, islowered as compared to the N-type diffusion regions 15 and 16 of theperipheral transistor TR_(N). Hence, impurity of the floating diffusionregion 22 is restricted from being diffused under the fourth gateelectrode 9, so that the overlap width d1 between the fourth gateelectrode 9 and the floating diffusion region 22 is narrowed as comparedwith the overlap width d2 in the peripheral circuit.

According to this, when the fourth gate electrode 9 of the resettransistor TR_(RST) is switched from ON to OFF in the case of resettingthe floating diffusion region 22, an opposite area of the fourth gateelectrode 9 and the floating diffusion region 22 is small, andaccordingly, the overlap capacitance therebetween is reduced, and itbecomes difficult for the potential of the floating diffusion region 22to be lowered to the ground potential side of the fourth gate electrode9 via the overlap capacitance. Therefore, when transferring theelectrons to the floating diffusion region 22, it is made possible tomaintain the deep potential of the floating diffusion region 22, thusmaking it possible to transfer the electrons smoothly.

Furthermore, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 7, a channel width W1 ofthe transfer gate 12 is made wider than a channel width W2 of the fourthgate 9. Accordingly, the area of the transfer gate 12, which overlapsthe floating diffusion region 22, can be made relatively larger than thearea of the fourth gate 9, which overlaps the floating diffusion region22. Thus, it becomes easy to deepen the potential of the floatingdiffusion region, and the charge transfer becomes far more efficient.

Moreover, in this embodiment, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 8, thethird conductive plug 30 a for electrically connecting the fifth gateelectrode 10 to the floating diffusion region 22 is provided on thehighly doped region 22 a. According to this, even if the first hole 29 a(see FIG. 4K) for burying the third conductive plug 30 a therein ispositionally shifted in a gate length direction of the transfer gate 12to reach an end of the element isolation insulating film 4 (see FIG. 8)and to cut the element isolation insulating film 4 to some extent, itbecomes difficult for the third conductive plug 30 a to reach thesilicon substrate 1 under the highly doped region 22 a because thehighly doped region 22 a is formed deeply at the high concentration.Consequently, it becomes difficult for the junction leakage between theP-type silicon substrate 1 and the N-type floating diffusion region 22to occur under the third conductive plug in comparison with the case offorming only the thin and shallow floating diffusion region 22 withoutforming the highly doped region 22 a, and image quality of the imagesensor can be enhanced.

Furthermore, the third conductive plug 30 a is formed on the portion ofthe highly doped region 22 a, which is as wide as the width W1 (see FIG.7). Accordingly, an alignment margin in the width direction can beallowed to be wide.

Moreover, even if the first hole 29 a is not positionally shifted in thegate length direction of the transfer gate 12, by forming the first hole29 a on the highly doped region 22 a, even if the surface layer of thesilicon substrate 1 is cut to some extent in the case of etching thefirst hole 29 a, the first conductive plug 30 a is not brought intodirect contact with the silicon substrate 1. Accordingly, processes suchas ion implantation of phosphorus into the first hole 29 a for thepurpose of compensating the contact (acceleration energy: 30 keV; doseamount: approximately 1×10¹⁴ cm⁻²) and activation annealing foractivating the implanted phosphorus (substrate temperature: 800° C.;treatment time: approximately 30 seconds), both of which are necessaryin the case where the highly doped region 22 a is not formed, can beomitted, and simplification of the processes can be achieved.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are views where a variety of capacitances C₂, C₃ andC₅ are additionally written to the cross section of the CMOS imagesensor of the present embodiment for the purpose of describing theabove-described advantages qualitatively. Meanings of the respectivecoupling capacitances are as follows.

-   C₂ . . . An overlap capacitance between the transfer gate 12 and the    floating diffusion region 22-   C₃ . . . An overlap capacitance between the fourth gate electrode 9    and the floating diffusion region 22-   C₅ . . . A junction capacitance between the floating diffusion    region 22 and the silicon substrate 1

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view when a reset operation of the floatingdiffusion region 22 ends. This operation is performed by changing thegate voltage of the fourth gate electrode 9 from Vg⁽¹⁾ of a positivepotential to 0V and turning the reset transistor TR_(RST) from ON to OFFstate.

At this time, the amounts of electrons in the floating diffusion regionwhen the reset transistor TR_(RST) is in an ON state and an OFF stateare represented as:

when TR_(RST) is in ON state:C ₂(VR ⁽⁰⁾−0)+C ₃(VR ⁽⁰⁾ +Vg ⁽¹⁾)+C ₅(VR ⁽⁰⁾−0)  (1)when TR_(RST) is in OFF state:C ₂(VR ⁽¹⁾−0)+C ₃(VR ⁽¹⁾−0)+C ₅(VR ⁽⁰⁾−0)  (2),where a reset voltage is VR⁽⁰⁾(>0), a potential of the floatingdiffusion region 22 after the reset is VR⁽¹⁾.

By letting the above expressions (1) and (2) equal to each other, thefollowing expression is obtained:VR ⁽⁰⁾ −VR ⁽¹⁾ =C ₃ ·Vg ⁽¹⁾/(C ₂ +C ₃ +C ₅)  (3)

Note that, when the TR_(RST) is turned to an ON state, charges that haveoriginally existed in an inversion layer of a channel portion of theTR_(RST) also actually flow into the floating diffusion region 22.Accordingly, the respective charges in the floating diffusion region 22in an ON state and OFF state of the TR_(RST) do not become equal to eachother as described above. However, under an actual use condition, thechannel portion of the TR_(RST) is turned to a state of being close toweak inversion after writing VR⁽⁰⁾ into the floating diffusion region22. Therefore, only a small error occurs even if the expressions (1) and(2) are assumed to be equal.

Next, the case of transferring the charges from the photodiode PD to thefloating diffusion region 22 (see FIG. 11) is considered. This transferoperation is performed by changing the voltage of the transfer gate 12from 0V to Vg⁽²⁾ of a positive potential, whereby switching the channelunder the transfer gate 12 from OFF to ON state.

When the gate 12 is turned to an ON state as described above, all theelectrons accumulated in the photodiode PD are transferred to thefloating diffusion region 22, and the photodiode PD and the channelunder the transfer gate are turned to a depleted state.

Moreover, the amounts of electrons in the floating diffusion region 22in the respective cases where the channel under the transfer gate 12 isin an ON state and an OFF state are represented as: when transfer gate12 is in OFF state:C ₂(VR ⁽¹⁾−0)+C ₃(VR ⁽¹⁾−0)+C ₅(VR ⁽¹⁾−0)  (4)when transfer gate 12 is in ON state:C ₂(VR ⁽²⁾ −Vg ⁽¹⁾)+C ₃(VR ⁽²⁾−0)+C ₅(VR ⁽²⁾−0)  (5)where VR⁽²⁾ denotes the potential of the floating diffusion region 22after the charge transfer.

If the amount of electrons transferred from the photodiode PD to thefloating transfer region 22 is Q (<0 for electrons), the amount ofelectrons in the floating diffusion region 22, which is increased due tothe transfer, is equal to Q, and therefore, the following equation isobtained:(the amount of electrons in floating diffusion region 22 in ON state oftransfer gate 12)=(the amount of electrons in floating diffusion region22 in OFF state of transfer gate 12)+Q

Based on the above and the expressions (4) and (5), the followingequation is obtained:VR ⁽²⁾ −VR ⁽¹⁾ =C ₂ ·Vg ⁽²⁾/(C ₂ +C ₃ +C ₅)+Q/(C ₂ +C ₃ +C ₅)  (6).

Then, based on the expressions (3) and (6), a difference between thereset voltage VR⁽⁰⁾ and the voltage VR⁽²⁾ of the floating diffusionregion 22 after the charge transfer is represented as:VR ⁽²⁾ −VR ⁽⁰⁾=(C ₂ ·Vg ⁽²⁾ +Q−C ₃ ·Vg ⁽¹⁾)/(C ₂ +C ₃ +C ₅)  (7).

From this equation (7), it can be understood that VR⁽²⁾−VR⁽⁰⁾ isproportional to the amount Q of electrons transferred. Interpreting theproportionality as conversion efficiency (or sensitivity) from theamount of electrons to the voltage, the following equation can beobtained:Conversion efficiency(sensitivity)=1/(C ₂ +C ₃ +C ₅)  (8).

FIG. 12 is a graph showing C₂ dependency of VR⁽²⁾−VR⁽⁰⁾, and FIG. 13 isa graph showing C₂ dependency of the conversion efficiency(sensitivity).

In each of these graphs, the following conditions are postulated:Vg⁽¹⁾=Vg⁽²⁾=2.8V; C₃=0.3 fF; C₅=0.7 fF; andQ=−8×10 ⁻¹⁶ (amount of charges corresponding to 5,000 electrons).

As shown in FIG. 12, VR⁽²⁾−VR⁽⁰⁾ is increased as C₂ is increased.Because VR⁽²⁾−VR⁽⁰⁾ indicates how the potential of the floatingdiffusion region 22 is deepened at the time of charge transfer, as C₂ isincreased, that is, as the transfer gate 12 overlaps the floatingdiffusion region 12 by a wider area, the electrons will be able to betransferred from the photodiode PD to the floating diffusion region 22more efficiently.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 13, the transfer efficiency (sensitivity) isreduced as C₂ is increased, and the sensitivity is lowered.

In this connection, consider a product of the equation (7) and theequation (8) as an index in which both the transfer efficiency and thesensitivity are reflected. Because the equations (7) and (8)monotonously increase and decrease with C₂ respectively, their producthas a maximum value. When a value of C₂ giving the maximum value isdefined as C_(2max), the following equation is obtained based on acondition of d((7)×(8))/d(C₂)=0:

C _(2max)=(1+2 Vg ⁽¹⁾ /Vg ⁽²⁾)C ₃ +C ₅−2Q/Vg ⁽²⁾  (9).

A graph showing the product of the equations (7) and (8) becomes asshown in FIG. 14. The charge transfer efficiency and the sensitivity canbe made compatible with each other by adjusting C₂ in a range ofC₂<C_(2max) (hatched portion).

Moreover, when the overlap width d1 between the floating diffusionregion 22 and the fourth gate electrode 9 is narrowed to reduce C₃,C_(2max) is reduced based on the equation (9), and accordingly, theperformance of the pixels can be optimized in a higher sensitivityregion based on the equation (8).

(Second Embodiment)

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be explainedwith reference to FIG. 4C and FIG. 15. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional viewof principal portions of an imaging device at some midpoint of amanufacturing process according to the present embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the ion implantation is performed twice by useof the two resist patterns (second and third resist patterns 21 and 23),thus forming the floating diffusion region 22 including the highly dopedregion 22 a.

On the contrary to this, the highly doped region 22 a is formed byfollowing method in this embodiment.

First, performing the process of FIG. 4C, which is described in thefirst embodiment, the floating diffusion region 22 is formed by use of afirst resist pattern 21 with a thickness of approximately 1 μm.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 15, while tilting the silicon substrate 1to such a direction where a shadow of the first resist pattern 21 isextended from the second side face 9 a of the fourth gate electrode 9(for example, at a tilt angle of 20°), phosphorus are ion-implantedslantwise onto the surface layer of the silicon substrate 1 through afirst window 21 a under conditions where the acceleration energy is 20keV and the dose amount is 1×10¹⁵ to 2×10¹⁵ cm⁻². Thus, the highly dopedregion 22 a is formed.

Note that the tilt angle in such angled ion implantation means an angle(<90°) made by an introduction direction of phosphorus with respect to anormal line of the silicon substrate 1.

According to the above-described method, a shadow of the first window 21a appears by a length L, for example, by approximately 0.36 μm. Thehighly doped region 22 a is not formed on the shadowed portion, and theconcentration of phosphorus remains low there. Thus, the overlapcapacitance between the floating diffusion region 22 and the fourth gateelectrode 9 can be reduced, and similar advantages to those of the firstembodiment can be obtained.

Particularly, by making the length L of the shadow longer, for example,making L at 0.2 μm or more, phosphorus in the highly doped region 22 acomes not to reach under the fourth gate electrode 9 even if phosphorusis diffused. Accordingly, the overlap capacitance between the floatingdiffusion region 22 and the gate electrode 9 can be reduced securely.

Note that, when the thickness of the first resist pattern is 1 μm,making it possible to set the length L of the shadow of the first resistpattern 21 at 0.2 μm or more by setting the tilt angle at 100 or more.

Furthermore, according to this method, phosphorus is implanted under thefirst side face 12 a of the transfer gate 12, and accordingly, thehighly doped region 22 a can be overlapped with the transfer gate 12before phosphorus is diffused. Hence, when phosphorus is diffused withthe elapse of time, the highly doped region 22 a overlaps the transfergate 12 more largely in comparison with that in the first embodiment,thus making it possible to enhance the charge transfer efficiencyfurther than the first embodiment.

Incidentally, it is preferable to determine as to which of the methodusing the two resist patterns (first embodiment) and the method usingthe angled ion implantation (this embodiment) is to be employed based onthe plane layout of the unit pixels U.

As shown in FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B, considering unit vectors n1 and n2whose directions correspond to moving direction of charges flowing undergates 9, 12 respectively, both the first and second embodiment may beemployed when an inner product n1−n2 of unit vectors n1 and n2 becomes 0or a positive value.

It should be noted that, in FIGS. 16A and 16 b, the first side face ofthe transfer gate 12 and the second side face of the fourth gate 9locates under the different edges of the window 21 a.

On the contrary, as shown in FIG. 16C, when the angled ion implantationis performed on such a layout where the above-described inner productn1−n2 becomes negative, the shadow of the first window 21 a of the firstresist pattern 21 is also appeared on the floating diffusion region 22closer to the transfer gate 12. Accordingly, the highly doped region 22a is separated from the transfer gate 12, causing a possibility that alarge overlap capacitance cannot be created therebetween. Hence, in thiscase, it is preferable to form the floating diffusion region 22 and thehighly doped region 22 a by use of the two resist patterns as in thefirst embodiment.

It should be noted in FIG. 16 c that the first side face of the transfergate 12 and the second side face of the fourth gate 9 locates under thesame edge of the window 21 a.

(Third Embodiment)

In this embodiment, a modification example of the plane layout of thetransfer gate 12 described in the first embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 17 is a plan view of principal portions of an imaging deviceaccording to the present embodiment. In FIG. 17, the same referencenumerals are used for the members described in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 17, in this embodiment, an extending portion 12 cextending along the edge of the floating diffusion region 22 when viewedfrom above the silicon substrate 1 is provided in the transfer gate 12.According to this structure, the opposite area of the transfer gate 12and floating diffusion region 22 can be widened more in comparison withthe first embodiment, and the overlap capacitance therebetween isfurther increased. Therefore, the charge transfer efficiency from thephotodiode PD to the floating diffusion region 22 can be furtherenhanced.

Note that, if the overlap capacitance between the transfer gate 12 andthe floating diffusion region 22 can be secured to be sufficiently largeby providing a concave or convex portion to the transfer gate 12 in thismanner, it is not necessary to form the highly doped region 22 a.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 18A, in place of the above-described planelayout, a projection portion projecting to the floating diffusion region22 may be provided in the transfer gate 12.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 18B, a concave portion concaved toward thephotodiode PD may be provided in the transfer gate in the portionoverlapping the floating diffusion region 22.

According to the structures shown in FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B, the sameadvantages as in the case of FIG. 17 can be obtained.

(Fourth Embodiment)

In the first and second embodiments, the gate length of the transfergate 12 is drawn to be approximately equal to the gate length of thefourth gate 10 constituting the reset transistor TR_(RST). However, thepresent invention is not limited to this.

For example, as shown in FIG. 19, a gate length L1 of the transfer gate12 may be made longer than a gate length L2 of the fourth gate 10.

According to this structure, even if the transfer gate 12 and the highlydoped region 22 a are largely overlapped with each other, the channellength under the transfer gate 12 is made longer than in the case wherethe gate lengths of the respective gates 10 and 12 are equal to eachother, and accordingly, a short channel effect under the transfer gate12 can be restricted, and the characteristics of the transfer gates 12can be prevented from being largely varied for each of the unit pixelsU.

(Fifth Embodiment)

Next, a manufacturing method of an imaging device according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIGS. 20A to 20G are cross-sectional views of principal portions of animage device in steps of a manufacturing process according to thepresent embodiment. In these drawings, the same reference numerals asthose in the first embodiment are used for members already described inthe first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted below.

Note that, in these drawings, first cross sections and second crosssections of the pixel region A are drawn in combination for the purposeof assisting the understanding of the invention. Among them, the firstcross sections correspond to the cross-sectional view along the lineII-II of FIG. 5, and the second cross sections correspond to thecross-sectional view along the line III-III of FIG. 5.

Moreover, FIG. 21 will also be referred to below as needed. FIG. 21 is aplan view of principal portions of an imaging device at some midpoint ofa manufacturing process according to the present embodiment.

First, the process of FIG. 4F, which has been described in the firstembodiment, is performed. Then, as shown in FIG. 20A, a phosphorus-dopedamorphous silicon film is formed to a thickness of 50 nm on the secondinsulating film 26 by a thermal CVD method using a gas mixture of SiH₄and PH₃ while maintaining a substrate temperature at 400 to 600° C. Theformed amorphous silicon film is used as a first conductive film 50.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 20B will be described.

First, a resist pattern (not shown) is formed on the first conductivefilm 50. In the resist pattern, hole-shaped windows are formed on thehighly doped region 22 a and the fifth gate electrode 10. Subsequently,while using this resist pattern as a mask, holes are formed in the firstconductive film 50 under the windows of the resist pattern by RIE inwhich a gas containing chlorine is used as an etching gas. Next, a thirdhole 26 k and a fourth hole 26 m are formed in the first and secondinsulating films 5 and 26 under the holes of the first conductive film50 by RIE using a gas mixture of CF₄ and CHF₃ as an etching gas.Thereafter, the resist pattern is removed.

Subsequently, natural oxidation film of a thickness of severalnanometers, which are formed on bottom surfaces of the third and fourthholes 26 k and 26 m, are etched by an HF solution, and clean surfaces ofsilicon are exposed from the respective holes 26 k and 26 m. Theconcentration of the HF solution is adjusted, for example, in severalpercents.

In the case of this HF treatment, the second insulating film 26 made ofSiO₂ is covered with the first conductive film 50 having etchingresistance to HF, and accordingly, the thickness of the film 26 is notreduced by etching. However, if the second insulating film 26 is formedto be sufficiently thick by previously foreseeing such film reduction,the first conductive film 50 may be omitted.

Thereafter, a phosphorus-doped amorphous silicon film is formed to athickness of 50 nm on the inner surfaces of the third and fourth holes26 k and 26 m and the first conductive film 50 by employing the samedeposition conditions as those for the first conductive film 50, and theformed amorphous silicon film is used as the second conductive film 51.

Next, as shown in FIG. 20C, a fifth resist pattern 53 covering thefloating diffusion region 22 is formed on the second conductive pattern51. Then, by RIE using the gas mixture of CF₄ and CHF₃ as the etchinggas, the first and second conductive films 50 and 51 at portions whichare not covered with the fifth resist pattern 53 are removed by etching,and the respective conductive films 50 and 51 are left as a conductivepattern 52 under the fifth resist pattern 53.

This conductive pattern 52 functions as wiring electrically connectingthe highly doped region 22 a and the fifth gate electrode 10 through thethird and fourth holes 26 k and 26 m.

Thereafter, the fourth resist pattern 53 is removed.

A plan view after the end of this process becomes as shown in FIG. 21.The cross section of the peripheral circuit region B of FIG. 20Cexplained in the above corresponds to a cross-sectional view along aline I-I of FIG. 21. A pixel region A (first cross section) of FIG. 20Ccorresponds to a cross-sectional view along a line II-II of FIG. 21. Apixel region (second cross section) thereof corresponds to a crosssectional view along a line III-III of FIG. 21.

Next, as shown in FIG. 20D, a sixth resist pattern 54 covering thephotodiode PD, the floating diffusion region 22 and the conductivepattern 52 is formed on the second insulating film 26. Then, the firstand second insulating films 5 and 26 are anisotropically etched by RIEwhile using the sixth resist pattern 54 as a mask. Consequently, thesecond insulating film 26 is left as the insulating sidewalls 26 a to 26j on the side faces of the respective gate electrodes 6 to 11. Moreover,the first insulating film 5 is patterned and left as the gate insulatingfilms 5 a to 5 e on the lower surfaces of the gate electrodes 6 to 11.

Note that the second insulating film 26 under the sixth resist pattern54 remains without being etched. Moreover, the gate insulating film 5 cbecomes common to the third and fourth gate electrodes 8 and 9 and thetransfer gate 12.

Thereafter, the sixth resist pattern 54 is removed.

Subsequently, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structureshown in FIG. 20E will be explained.

First, phosphorus is ion-implanted into the first to sixth N-typediffusion regions 15 to 20 at high concentration under conditions wherethe acceleration energy is 20 keV and the dose amount is 2×10⁵ cm⁻¹while using, as masks, the second to sixth gate electrodes 7 to 11 andthe insulating sidewalls 26 c to 26 j formed on the side faces thereof.Thus, the respective N-type diffusion regions 15 to 20 are formed intoan LDD structure. Furthermore, under similar conditions to the above,boron are ion-implanted into the first and second P-type diffusionregions 13 and 14, and these P-type diffusion regions 13 and 14 areformed into the LDD structure.

Subsequently, natural oxidation films formed on the respective surfacesof the diffusion layers 13 to 20, gate electrodes 6 to 11 and conductivepattern 52 are removed by the HF treatment and the like, and then acobalt layer is formed to a thickness of about 5 to 30 nm on the entiresurface by the sputtering method.

Next, RTA under the conditions where the substrate temperature is 500 to600° C. and the treatment time is approximately 30 to 90 seconds isperformed to react cobalt and silicon each other. Consequently,electrical resistances of the respective diffusion region 13 to 20,conductive pattern 52 and sixth gate insulating film 11 will be loweredbecause the cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28 h, 55 a and 55 b areformed on the surfaces thereof. Thereafter, an unreacted cobalt layer isremoved by wet etching.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 20F will be described.

First, an SiO₂ film is formed as the third insulating film 29 by theHDPCVD method on the insulating sidewalls 26 a to 26 j and the cobaltsilicide layers 28 a to 28 h. Thus, the spaces between the respectivetransistors TR_(P), TR_(N), TR_(OFD), TR_(TG), TR_(RST), TR_(SF) andTR_(SEL) are filled with the third insulating film 29. Thereafter, theupper surface of the third insulating film 29 is polished to beplanarized by the CMP method, and the thickness of the third insulatingfilm 29 is set at approximately 700 nm on the plane surface of thesilicon substrate 1.

Subsequently, photoresist is coated on the third insulating film 29, andthen exposed and developed. Thus, a resist pattern (not shown) havinghole-shaped windows are formed on the cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28f and 28 h.

Thereafter, while using the above-described resist pattern as a mask,the third insulating film 29 is etched by RIE using gas mixture of CF₄and CHF₃ as the etching gas, thus forming the second holes 29 b to 29 hon the cobalt silicide layers 28 a to 28 f and 28 h.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 20G will be described.

First, by the sputtering method, a Ti film and a TiN film aresequentially formed as glue film on the inner surfaces of the secondholes 29 b to 29 h and the upper surface of the third insulating film29. Respective thickness of the Ti film and the TiN film are, forexample, set at 30 nm both. Subsequently, a W film is formed on thisglue film by the CVD method using WF₆ gas, and the insides of the secondholes 29 b to 29 h are completely filled with the W film. Thereafter,extra glue film and W film formed on the upper surface of the thirdinsulating film 29 are removed by the CMP method, and the remainingfilms are left as the second conductive plugs 30 b to 30 h in therespective holes 29 b to 29 h.

Subsequently, as metal stack films, a Ti film with a thickness of 30 nm,a TiN film with a thickness of 30 nm, an Al film with a thickness of 300to 500 nm, a Ti film with a thickness of 5 to 10 nm, and a TiN film witha thickness of 50 to 100 nm, are formed in this order by the sputteringmethod on the respective upper surfaces of the third insulating film 29and first conductive plugs 30 b to 30 h. Thereafter, the metal stackfilms are patterned by the photolithography method, and thus the firstlevel metal wiring 31 electrically connected to the first conductiveplugs 30 b to 30 h are formed.

Thereafter, the process of FIG. 4L, which has been described in thefirst embodiment, is performed, and thus a basic structure of theimaging device according to this embodiment is completed.

According to the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20G, theconductive pattern 52 is formed so as to cover the transfer gate 12, andaccordingly, large overlap capacitance can be created between theconductive pattern 52 and the transfer gate 12. In cooperation with theoverlap capacitance between the transfer gate 12 and the highly dopedregion 22 a, the overlap capacitance between the conductive pattern 52and gate 12 draws the potential of the floating diffusion region 22toward the positive potential of the gate 12 at the time of chargetransfer more largely than in the fist embodiment, and accordingly, thecharge transfer from the photodiode PD to the floating diffusion region22 can be performed far more smoothly.

In addition, the conductive pattern 52 is formed on the upper surface ofthe second insulating film 26 that remains uneven without beingplanarized. Accordingly, in comparison with the case where the secondinsulating film 26 is planarized, an area of the lower surface of theconductive pattern 52 can be increased, and the overlap capacitancebetween the conductive pattern 52 and the transfer gate 12 can beincreased.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the conductive pattern 52 is formed soas to cover the transfer gate 12 and the floating diffusion region 22.Accordingly, unnecessary light that is going to be incident onto thefloating diffusion region 22 can be shielded by the conductive pattern52, thus making it possible to prevent noise from being generated in thefloating diffusion region 22.

Moreover, the conductive pattern 52 is directly formed on the secondinsulating film 26 without forming an insulating film for planarizationon the second insulating film 26. Accordingly, in comparison with thecase where the insulating film for planarization is formed and theconductive pattern 52 is formed thereon, a distance between theconductive pattern 52 and the floating diffusion region 22 can beshortened. Consequently, it becomes far more difficult for extra lightto invade the floating diffusion region 22, and the above-describedlight shielding effect can be enhanced.

Incidentally, in this embodiment, the conductive pattern 52 isconstituted of phosphorus-doped amorphous silicon, and further, theconductive pattern 52 is formed in the third hole 26 k and brought intocontact with the highly doped region 22 a.

In place of such a structure, it is conceivable that, after forming aconductive plug in the third hole 26 k, a metal stack film constitutedmainly of an aluminum film is formed on the respective upper surfaces ofthe conductive plug and second insulating film 26, and that the metalstack film is patterned to form the conductive pattern 52. Such astructure corresponds to a structure shown in FIG. 7 of Patent Document1.

However, in this structure, it is necessary to form a Ti film as a gluefilm of the conductive plug in the third hole 26 k, and undesirably, thesilicon substrate 1 exposed to the bottom surface of the third hole 26 kreacts with the Ti film to form a titanium silicide layer. The titaniumsilicide layer reaches some depth from the surface of the siliconsubstrate 1. Therefore, the lower surface of the titanium silicide layerwill be close to a PN junction between the N-type highly doped region 22a and the P-type silicon substrate 1. In such a case, charges in thehighly conductive titanium silicide layer become prone to escape to thesilicon substrate 1 through the above-described PN junction, thuscausing a possibility that a junction leakage in this PN junction isincreased.

On the contrary to this, in this embodiment, the first conductive film50 made of an amorphous silicon film is formed as the lowermost layer ofthe conductive pattern 52, and is brought into direct contact with thefloating diffusion region 22 in the third hole 26 k. Accordingly, such asilicide layer as described above is not formed on the bottom surface ofthe third hole 26 k, the junction leakage can be restricted from beingincreased, and a reliable CMOS sensor can be provided.

(Sixth Embodiment)

In the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20G, the conductive pattern 52is extended onto the fifth gate electrode 10, and the floating diffusionregion 22 and the fifth gate electrode 10 are electrically connected toeach other by the conductive pattern 52.

In this embodiment, the floating diffusion region 22 and the fifth gateelectrode 10 are electrically connected to each other without theconductive pattern 52 being interposed therebetween but with the firstlevel metal wiring 31 being interposed therebetween.

FIG. 22A and FIG. 22B are cross-sectional views of principal portions ofan imaging device at some midpoints of a manufacturing process accordingto the present embodiment.

First, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 22A will be described.

In accordance with the process of FIG. 20F in the fifth embodiment, afirst hole 29 a and a fifth hole 29 i are formed on the conductivepattern 52 and the fifth gate electrode 10 simultaneously when thesecond holes 29 b to 29 h are formed.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 22B will be described.

First, a Ti film and a TiN film are stacked as glue film in this orderon the inner surfaces of the respective holes 29 a to 29 i and the uppersurface of the third insulating film 29 by the sputtering method. Then,a W film is formed on the stacked films by the CVD method, and therespective holes 29 a to 29 i are completely filled therewith. The Wfilm formed by the CVD method exhibits better performance in stepcoverage than an AL film formed by the sputtering method, so that thenarrow holes 20 a to 29 i can be favorably filled with the W film.Moreover, adhesion of the TiN film in the glue film is good to the Wfilm, and the TiN film prevents the W film from peeling off and has afunction as a diffusion prevention film for the W film.

Note that, in place of the W film, any of a doped polysilicon film, atungsten silicide film, a cobalt silicide film, a tungsten nitride film,a Ta film, a Ru film, an Ir film, an Os film and a Pt film may be used.

Subsequently, extra glue film and W film on the upper surface of thethird insulating film 29 are removed by the CMP method, and the gluefilm and the W film are left only in the respective holes 29 a to 29 i.The glue film and W film thus left become a first conductive plug 31 ain the first hole 29 a, and become second conductive plugs 30 b to 30 hin the second holes 29 b to 29 h. Then, these films left in the fifthhole 29 i become a seventh conductive plug 30 i.

Thereafter, similar processes to those in the fifth embodiment areperformed, and the first level metal wiring 31 is formed on the thirdinsulating film 29 and the respective conductive plugs 30 a to 30 i.

This first wiring 31 is extended from a portion on the first conductiveplug 30 a to the seventh conductive plug 30 i, and thus the floatingdiffusion region 22 and the fifth gate electrode 10 is electricallyconnected to each other.

According to the persent embodiment described above, the silicide layers28 a to 28 h, 55 a and 55 b are exposed under all the holes 29 a to 29i, and these silicide layers serve as etching stoppers when forming theholes. Accordingly, all the holes 29 a to 29 i can be formedsimultaneously under the same etching conditions. Hence, unlike thefirst embodiment in which the different types of materials are exposedunder the respective holes, it is not necessary to form the respectiveholes separately while changing the etching conditions. Therefore,simplification of the processes can be achieved.

(Seventh Embodiment)

Next, a manufacturing method of an imaging device according to a seventhembodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 23A and FIG.23B are cross-sectional views of principal portions of the imagingdevice at some midpoints in a manufacturing process according to thepresent embodiment. FIG. 24 is a plan view of the principal portions.Note that, in these drawings, the same reference numerals as those inthe first embodiment is used for the members described in the firstembodiment, and description thereof will be omitted below.

First, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 23A will be described.

After performing the process of FIG. 4A, which has been described in thefirst embodiment, P-type impurity such as boron is ion-implanted intothe N well 3 by use of a resist pattern (not shown) having a window onthe N well 3 as a mask, and the first and second P-type diffusionregions 13 and 14 are formed in a self-aligning manner with respect tothe first gate electrode 6. Thereafter, the above-described resistpattern is removed.

Subsequently, a seventh resist pattern 60 covering a portion of thesilicon substrate 1 from the third gate electrode 8 to the sixth gateelectrode 11 is formed, and while using the seventh resist pattern 6 asa mask, phosphorus is ion-implanted into the silicon substrate 1 underconditions where the acceleration energy is 20 keV and the dose amountof 4×10¹³ cm⁻². At the time of this ion implantation, the second andthird gate electrodes 7 and 8 and the sixth gate electrode 11 serve asmasks, and the first to third N-type diffusion regions 15 to 17 and thesixth N-type diffusion region 20 are formed on the sides of these gateelectrodes in a self-aligning manner.

Thereafter, the seventh resist pattern 60 is removed.

Next, a process until obtaining a cross-sectional structure shown inFIG. 23B will be described.

First, photoresist (not shown) is coated on the entire surface of thesilicon substrate 1, and then the photoresist is exposed and developed.Thus, a eighth resist pattern 61 having a third window 61 a is formed.The third window 61 a is formed such that side faces thereof overlap therespective upper surfaces of the transfer gate 12 and sixth gate 11 andthat the respective upper surfaces of the fourth and fifth gateelectrodes 9 and 10 are exposed to the inside of the third window 61 a.

Subsequently, the eighth resist pattern 61 is used as a mask, and thephosphorus is ion-implanted into the silicon substrate 1 under thecondition where the impurity concentration is lowered more than that inthe process of FIG. 23A, for example, conditions where the accelerationenergy is 20 keV and the dose amount is 0.5 to 1×10¹² cm⁻². In such away, the low-concentration floating diffusion region 22 is formedbetween the transfer gate 12 and the fourth gate electrode 9 in aself-aligning manner, the fourth and fifth N-type diffusion regions 18and 19 are formed among the fourth to sixth gate electrodes 9 to 11.

Thereafter, the processes of FIG. 4D and FIG. 4E, which have beendescribed in the first embodiment, are performed. Thus, the highly dopedregion 22 a is formed in the floating diffusion region 22, and thephotodiode Pd is formed.

A plan view after the end of these processes becomes as shown in FIG.24. The cross-sectional views of the peripheral circuit region B of FIG.23A and FIG. 23B explained in the above correspond to a cross sectionalong a line I-I of FIG. 24, and the cross-sectional views of the pixelregion A thereof correspond to a cross section along a line II-II ofFIG. 24.

As described above, in this embodiment, the fourth and fifth N-typediffusion regions 18 and 19 serving as the source/drain regions of thedetection transistor TR_(SF) are formed simultaneously with the lowconcentration floating diffusion region 22, and thus the impurityconcentration of the regions 18 and 19 is lowered more than that of thefirst and second N-type diffusion regions 15 and 16 of the peripheralcircuit region B.

According to this structure, the impurity of the fourth and fifth N-typediffusion regions 18 and 19 is not diffused widely in the lateraldirection of the silicon substrate 1 in comparison with that of thefirst and second N-type diffusion regions 15 and 16 of the peripheralcircuit. Hence, as shown in FIG. 24, the overlap width between thesource region and gate electrode of the detection transistor TRSF (thatis, the overlap width between the fourth N-type diffusion region 18 andthe fifth gate electrode 10) becomes a fourth width d4 narrower than theoverlap width d2 in the peripheral transistor TR_(N).

As can be understood from FIG. 2, the overlap capacitance between thesource and gate of the detection transistor TR_(SF) functions as a partof a capacitor which converts the charges accumulated in the floatingdiffusion region 22 into a gate voltage of the detection transistorTR_(SF). Then, a variation V of the gate voltage is proportional to thecharge amount Q in the floating diffusion region 22, and a coefficientof proportionality thereof becomes an inverse number C⁻¹ of acapacitance value C of this capacitor.

In this embodiment, the overlap width d4 between the source region andgate electrode of the detection transistor TR_(SF) is narrowed more thanthe overlap width d2 in the peripheral transistor. Accordingly, thecapacitance value of the overlap capacitance between the source and gatethereof can be reduced. Consequently, a value of the above-describedcoefficient of proportionality C⁻¹ is made larger than that of the firstembodiment. Therefore, the gate voltage of the detection transistorTR_(SF) can be made to sensitively response to the variations of thecharge amount Q in the floating diffusion region 22, and a CMOS imagesensor more sensitive than that of the first embodiment can be provided.

In addition, the impurity concentration of the source/drain regions(fourth and fifth N-type diffusion regions 18 and 19) of the detectiontransistor TR_(SF) is lowered more than the peripheral transistorTR_(N). Accordingly, the diffusion of the impurity from the source/drainregions of the detection transistor TR_(SF) to its channels is reduced.Consequently, even if the gate length of the detection transistorTR_(SF) is shortened as a result of a miniaturization progress of theimage sensor, a short channel effect of the detection transistor TR_(SF)can be restricted more than that of the peripheral transistor TR_(N),and the characteristics of the detection transistors TR_(SF) can beprevented from being varied among the unit pixels U.

(Eighth Embodiment)

FIG. 25 is a circuit diagram of an imaging device according to thepresent embodiment.

In FIG. 25, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 is used forthe circuit elements already described with reference to FIG. 1, anddescription thereof will be omitted below.

As shown in FIG. 25, in this embodiment, a voltage supply circuit 93 isprovided in the peripheral circuit region B, and a voltage from thevoltage supply circuit 93 is applied to the vertical signal lines CL.Moreover, for each column, first transistor TR₁ is provided on thevertical signal lines CL in positions immediately before the signalreading/noise cancel circuit 91.

FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram of the unit pixel U and the voltage supplycircuit 93 in the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 26, the voltage supply circuit 93 has a secondtransistor TR₂ and a third transistor TR₃ for each column, and a secondvoltage VR₂ and a third voltage VR₃, each has different value, areapplied to drains of the respective transistors TR₂ and TR₃. Then,sources of the respective transistors TR₂ and TR₃ are commonly connectedto the vertical signal line CL.

Signal voltages S2 and S3 are applied to gates of these transistors TR₂and TR₃ from a control circuit 94 formed in the peripheral circuitregion B. The signal voltages S2 and S3 control ON/OFF of the respectivetransistor TR₂ and TR₃, leading to selective outputs of the secondvoltage VR₂ and the third voltage VR₃ to the vertical signal line CL.Note that the control circuit 94 also outputs a signal voltage S1 to thefirst transistor TR₁, and controls ON/OFF of the first transistor TR₁.

Meanwhile, in the unit pixel U, a order of connection between thedetection transistor TR_(SF) and the selection transistor TR_(SEL) ismade reverse to that of the first embodiment. The source of thedetection transistor TR_(SF) is directly connected to the verticalsignal line CL, and a source voltage of the detection transistor TR_(SF)is adapted to be read out directly to the vertical signal line CL.

Note that the power source line VR is set in a state of being constantlyapplied with the first voltage VR₁.

Next, an operation of this imaging device will be described withreference to FIG. 27. FIG. 27 is a timing chart showing the operation ofthe imaging device according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 27, in a first step (i), the second transistor TR₂ isturned to an ON state, and the third transistor TR₃ is turned to an OFFstate. Thus, the second voltage VR₂ is outputted to the vertical signalline CL from the voltage supply circuit 93, and the second voltage VR₂is applied to the source of the detection transistor TR_(SF).

In a next step (ii), a high-level voltage (2.8V) is applied to the resetline RST to turn the reset transistor TR_(RST) to an ON state. Thus, thefloating diffusion region 22 is reset to a drain voltage of the resettransistor TR_(RST), that is, the first voltage VR₁ of the power sourceline VR, and the first voltage VR₁ is applied to the gate of thedetection transistor TR_(SF).

In such a way, the second voltage VR₂ is applied to the source of thedetection transistor TR_(SF), and the first voltage VR₁ is applied tothe gate of the detection transistor TR_(SF). In the present embodiment,such a value that the channel of the detection transistor TR_(SF) inthis state is turned ON, for example, 0.5 to 1V is adopted as a value ofthe second voltage VR₂. Thus, the detection transistor TR_(SF) is turnedto an ON state simultaneously when the floating diffusion region 22 isreset in the step (ii).

Thereafter, in a step (iii), the reset line RST is returned to lowlevel, so that the reset transistor TR_(RST) is turned to an OFF state.In this state, the reset voltage (first voltage VR₁) remains writteninto the floating diffusion region 22.

In a next step (iv), the second transistor TR₂ is turned to an OFFstate, and the third transistor TR₃ is turned to an ON state, and thusthe third voltage VR₃ is outputted to the vertical signal line CL. Inthe present embodiment, 1.8V, which is higher than the second voltageVR₂ (0.5 to 1V), is employed for the third voltage VR₃. Consequently,the ON state of the detection transistor TR_(SF) is maintained, and thepotential of the floating diffusion region 22 is raised by a capacitancebetween the channel and gate of the detection transistor TR_(SF).

Subsequently, in a step (v), the potential of the transfer gate line TGis set at the high level (2.8V), and thus the transfer transistorTR_(TG) is turned to an ON state. Consequently, the charges (in thiscase, electrons) accumulated in the photodiode PD are transferred to thefloating diffusion region 22 through the transfer transistor TR_(TG),and the potential of the floating diffusion region 22 is reduced by V inaccordance with the amount of transferred electrons.

Thereafter, in a step (vi), the voltage of the transfer gate line TG isreturned to the low level (0V) again, and the charge transfer isstopped.

Subsequently, in a step (vii), the second transistor TR₂ is turned to anON state again, the third transistor TR₃ is turned to an OFF stateagain, and thus the voltage of the vertical signal line CL is returnedto the second voltage VR₂. In such a way, the voltage of the floatingdiffusion region 22 becomes a voltage lower than that in the first state(step (i)) by V in accordance with the amount of transferred electrons.

Then, after the elapse of a predetermined time in the state of the step(vii) (standby state), the second and third transistors TR₂ and TR₃ areturned to an OFF state in a next step (viii). Thereafter, the firsttransistor TR₁ is turned to an ON state, and the row selection line SELis set at the high level to turn the selection transistor TR_(SEL) to anON state. Thus, the source voltage of the detection transistor TR_(SF)is read out as a signal voltage to the vertical signal line CL.

According to the above steps, the charge transfer and the signal readingare ended.

According to the present embodiment described above, in the steps (ii)and (iii), the reset voltage (first voltage VR₁) of the floatingdiffusion region 22 is applied to the gate of the detection transistorTR_(SF) to turn the detection transistor TR_(SF) to an ON state in thestate where the second voltage VR₂ is applied to the source of thedetection transistor TR_(SF). Thus, the capacitance between the channeland gate of the detection transistor TR_(SF) is created. Then, in thestep (iv), the third voltage VR₃ higher than the second voltage VR₂ isapplied to the source of the detection transistor TR_(SF), and thefloating diffusion region 22 connected to the gate of the detectiontransistor TR_(SF) is raised to the positive potential side by use ofthe capacitance between the channel and the gate of the detectiontransistor TR_(SF).

According to this, the potential of the floating diffusion region 22becomes deepened when viewed from the electrons, and accordingly, apotential difference between the photodiode PD and the floatingdiffusion region 22 is increased, and the electrons can be transferredeffectively from the photodiode PD from the floating diffusion region22.

Furthermore, it is only for a period of the above-described steps (iv)to (vi) that the potential of the floating diffusion region 22 is raisedin the above manner. Accordingly, the junction leakage can be preventedfrom being generated between the floating diffusion region 22 and thesilicon substrate 1, during the standby state (step (vii)) which startsfrom the transfer of the charges to the floating diffusion region 22 andends with reading out of the signal. Thus, reliability of the CMOS imagesensor can be enhanced.

In addition, according to the above, it is not necessary to provide alarge overlap capacitance between the transfer gate 12 and the floatingdiffusion region 22 as in the first embodiment. Accordingly, the totalcapacitance of the floating diffusion region 22 can be prevented frombeing increased due to the overlap capacitance, and the sensitivity isnot lowered.

FIG. 28 is a view where a variety of capacitances C₂, C₃, C₅ and C₆ areadditionally written to a cross section of the imaging sensor of thepresent embodiment for the purpose of describing the above-describedadvantages qualitatively. Meanings of the capacitances C₂, C₃ and C₅ arethe same as those in the first embodiment. The capacitance C₆ is thecapacitance between the channel and gate of the detection transistorTR_(SF).

As already described, the second voltage VR₂ applied to the source ofthe detection transistor TR_(SF) is set at such a value (0.5 to 1V) thatthe channel of the detection transistor TR_(SF) is turned ON when thefloating diffusion region 22 is reset to the first voltage VR₁(approximately 1.8V). Hence, when the voltage of the floating diffusionregion 22 is reset to the first voltage VR₁ in the above-described step(ii), the detection transistor TR_(SF) is turned to an ON state.

Thereafter, when the reset transistor TR_(RST) is set in an OFF state inthe above-described step (iii), electrons present so far in an inversionlayer of the reset transistor TR_(RST) flow into the floating diffusionregion 22, and accordingly, the potential of the floating diffusionregion 22 becomes VR⁽¹⁾ somewhat lower than the first voltage VR₁.

Furthermore, when the potential of the vertical signal line CL ischanged from the second voltage VR₂ to the third voltage VR₃ in the step(iv), the potential of the floating diffusion region 22 is raisedthrough the capacitance C₆ between the channel and the gate to becomeVR⁽²⁾ higher than VR⁽¹⁾.

Before and after this step (iv), the fifth gate 10 of the detectiontransistor TR_(SF) and the floating diffusion region 22 are in anelectrically floating state, and accordingly, the total amount Q ofelectrons therein may be regarded not to be changed.

Before the step (iv), the above Q can be written as:Q=C _(total) ·VR ⁽¹⁾ +C ₆·(VR ⁽¹⁾ −VR ₂)  (10)

-   -   (where C_(total)=C₂+C₃+C₅).

Meanwhile, after the step (iv), Q may be written as:Q=C _(total) ·VR ⁽²⁾ +C ₆·(VR ⁽²⁾ −VR ₃)  (11).

Hence, by putting right sides of these equations (10) and (11), thefollowing equation is obtained:VR ⁽²⁾ =VR ⁽¹⁾ +C ₆·(VR ₃ −VR ₂)/(C _(total) +C ₆)  (12).

Hence, from this equation (12), it can be understood that, by changingthe potential of the vertical signal line CL from the second voltage VR₂to the third voltage VR₃, the potential of the floating diffusion region22 is raised by C₆·(VR₃−VR₂)/(C_(total)+C₆) in comparison with the casewhere the vertical signal line CL is fixed.

Note that, though the overflow drain transistor TR_(OFD) (see FIG. 2)and the overflow drain line OFD, which have been described in the firstembodiment, are not used in the present embodiment, these may beprovided in the CMOS image sensor of this embodiment as a matter ofcourse.

(Ninth Embodiment)

In the eighth embodiment, such a voltage that the detection transistorTR_(SF) is turned ON in the state where the first voltage VR₁ is writteninto the floating diffusion region 22 is employed for the second voltageVR₂, and by utilizing the capacitance between the channel and gate ofthe detection transistor TR_(SF), the potential of the floatingdiffusion region is raised.

In place of the above, in the present embodiment, the potential of thefloating diffusion region 22 is raised by utilizing the overlapcapacitance between the source and gate of the detection transistorTR_(SF). The overlap capacitance is not the one that is intentionallycreated as in the first embodiment but naturally generated in a usualprocess. Accordingly, a new process for realizing the structure of thisembodiment is not required.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, it is necessary only to employ thedifferent value as the second voltage VR₂ than that in the eighthembodiment, and a circuit configuration and operation timing may be thesame as those in the eighth embodiment. Hence, description will be madebelow with reference again to FIGS. 25 to 27 referred to in the eighthembodiment.

In the first step (i) of FIG. 27, the second transistor TR₂ is turned toan ON state, the third transistor TR₃ is turned to an OFF state, andthus the second voltage VR₂ is outputted from the voltage supply circuit93 to the vertical signal line CL.

Subsequently, in the step (ii), the high-level voltage (2.8V) is appliedto the reset line RST. Thus, the reset transistor TR_(RST) is turned toan ON state, and the potential of the floating diffusion region 22 isreset to the first voltage VR₁. According to this, the detectiontransistor TR_(SF) is set in the state where the first voltage VR₁ andthe second voltage VR₂ are applied to the gate and source thereof,respectively.

In the present embodiment, unlike the eighth embodiment, such a voltagethat leaves the detection transistor TR_(SF) in the OFF state, forexample, a voltage of 1 to 2V is employed as the second voltage VR₂.Hence, in this step (ii), the capacitance between the channel and thegate as in the eighth embodiment is not formed in the detectiontransistor TR_(SF).

Subsequently, in the step (iii), the reset line is set at the low level,and the reset transistor TR_(RST) is turned to an OFF state.

Subsequently, in the step (iv), the second transistor TR₂ is turned toan OFF state, and the third transistor TR₃ is turned to an ON state.Thus, the third voltage VR₃ higher than the second voltage VR₂ isoutputted to the vertical signal line CL. Consequently, the potential ofthe floating diffusion region 22 is raised toward the voltage (thirdvoltage VR₃) of the vertical signal line CL and the detection transistorTR_(SF) is turned to an ON state by the overlap capacitance between thesource and gate of the detection transistor TR_(SF).

Next, in the step (v), the potential of the transfer gate line TG is setat the high level. Thus, the transfer transistor TR_(TG) is turned to anON state, and the electrons accumulated in the photodiode PD aretransferred to the floating diffusion region 22. According to this, thepotential of the floating diffusion region 22 is reduced by V inaccordance with the amount of transferred electrons.

Thereafter, in the step (vi), the voltage of the transfer gate line TGis returned to the low level (0V) again, and the charge transfer isstopped.

Subsequently, in the step (vii), the second transistor TR₂ is turned toan ON state again, the third transistor TR₃ is turned to an OFF stateagain, and thus the voltage of the vertical signal line CL is returnedto the second voltage V₂.

Next, in the step (viii), the second and third transistors TR₂ and TR₃are turned to an OFF state. Thereafter, the first transistor TR₁ isturned to an ON state, and the row selection line SEL is set at the highlevel to turn the selection transistor TR_(SEL) to an ON state. Then,the source voltage of the detection transistor TR_(SF) is read out as asignal voltage to the vertical signal line CL.

By the above, the charge transfer and the signal reading are ended.

According to the present embodiment described above, the voltage of thefloating diffusion region 22 is raised toward the second voltage VR₂ ofthe vertical selection line CL through the overlap capacitance betweenthe source and gate of the detection transistor TR_(SF). This overlapcapacitance contributes to a parasitic capacitance of the verticalsignal line CL, but a capacitance value of the overlap capacitance issmaller than the capacitance between the channel and the gate of thedetection transistor TR_(SF). Accordingly, the parasitic capacitance ofthe vertical signal line CL can be made smaller than in the eighthembodiment utilizing the capacitance between the channel and the gate ofthe detection transistor TR_(SF), and the level of the selection line CLcan be changed from VR₂ to VR₃ at high speed in the step (iv).

(Tenth Embodiment)

In the first to ninth embodiments, the potential (viewed from theelectrons) of the floating diffusion region 22 can be deepened onlyduring the charge transfer from the photodiode PD to the floatingdiffusion region 22. Then, in the standby state from the end of thecharge transfer to before the reading out of the output voltage inaccordance with the amount of charges, the potential of the floatingdiffusion region 22 is not deepened. Accordingly, the junction leakagebetween the N-type floating diffusion region 22 and the P-type siliconsubstrate 1 can be prevented.

In the present embodiment, a reading operation of an imaging devicecapable of utilizing such advantages effectively is provided.

FIG. 29 is a plan view schematically showing the reading operation ofthe imaging device according to the present embodiment. Hatchedrectangles in the figure show unit pixels U being currently read, andrectangles shown by dotted lines show unit pixels U being completed readoperation. Moreover, rectangles shown by solid lines show unit pixels Uin a standby state, which are to be read from now on.

As shown in FIG. 29, the reading of the signal voltages is performed perrow unit sequentially from the first row, after simultaneouslyperforming the charge transfer from the photodiodes PD to the floatingdiffusion regions 22 for all the rows (see FIG. 3). Performing thecharge transfer for all the rows collectively as described above isequal to storing an image formed on the pixel regions before the chargetransfer in the floating diffusion regions 22 of all the rows.Accordingly, such charge transfer is also referred to as an electrical“global shutter.” The reading of the signals of each row is performedper row unit after the global shutter. However, according to thismethod, as shown in FIG. 29, lengths of duration times of the standbystate (hereinafter, referred to as standby times) differ depending onthe rows. Therefore, in the first row, the standby time is the shortest,and in the final row, the standby time is the longest.

If the standby time lasts long in a state where high potentials areapplied to the floating diffusion regions 22, the junction leakagesbetween the floating diffusion regions 22 and the silicon substrates 1are increased, and the reliability of the CMOS image sensor is lowered.Hence, in the case where the high potentials are constantly applied tothe floating diffusion regions 22 to improve the charge transferefficiency without adopting such configurations as in the first to ninthembodiments, the above-described global shutter cannot be adopted.Hence, in this case, it is necessary not to produce a row where thestandby state is lengthened by performing the charge transfersequentially from the first row while performing exposure. Such a methodof the charge transfer is also referred to as a “rolling shutter.”

However, in this rolling shutter, “shake” and “distortion” are prone tooccur when imaging a moving object because exposure periods differ foreach of the rows. This gives discomfort to a user.

On the contrary to this, in the first to ninth embodiments, the junctionleakages between the floating diffusion regions 22 and the siliconsubstrates 1 do not occur so much even if the duration time islengthened by adopting the global shutter method of the presentembodiment because the high voltages are not applied to the floatingdiffusion regions 22 of the unit pixels U in the standby state. Hence,the first to ninth embodiments can suitably adopt the above-describedglobal shutter. Thus, the exposure times are equalized in all the rows,and an image can be made resistant to flow in the case of taking amoving picture.

In the present embodiment, as a result of adopting the global shuttermode, the above-described junction leakages can be prevented even ifthere are unit pixels U of which standby time is 1 millisecond or more.

It should be noted, however, that such situation can frequently ariseswhere the only low voltage is used as the voltage sources in the actualapplication. Therefore, even in the case where the rolling shutter isemployed, method of raising the voltage of the FD at transfer stepdescribed above is preferably applicable.

(Eleventh Embodiment)

In the present embodiment, an imaging device unit is provided bycombining each imaging device of the first to tenth embodiments with anoptical lens and the like.

As shown in FIG. 30, an imaging device unit 100 is constituted from asubstrate 101, an imaging device 102 mounted on the substrate 101, asignal processing IC 103 for processing an output signal of the imagingdevice 102, a lens 104 for collecting light from a subject onto theimaging device 102, a filter 105 for cutting an ultraviolet ray and thelike, a housing 106 and the like.

The light from the object is collected by the lens 104, an ultravioletray or an infrared ray is cut therefrom by the filter 105, and thenformed on the imaging device 102. The imaging device 102 converts theoptical image into signal voltages, and then outputs the signal voltagesto the signal processing IC 103. In the signal processing IC 103, thesignal voltages undergo predetermined treatments.

The imaging device unit 100 as described above is used by beingassembled into a cellular phone, a notebook type personal computer orthe like for which low power consumption is required. The imaging deviceunit 100 can create a good image in which the charge transfer efficiencyis improved.

1. An imaging device, comprising: a photodiode and a floating diffusionregion formed to be spaced from each other on a surface layer of a pixelregion of a semiconductor substrate; and a transfer gate having eitherof a concave and convex portion toward the floating diffusion region,the transfer gate being formed above the semiconductor substrate betweenthe photodiode and the floating diffusion region by interposing a gateinsulating film therebetween.
 2. The imaging device according to claim1, wherein the transfer gate includes an extending portion extendingalong an edge of the floating diffusion region in the lateral directionof the semiconductor substrate.
 3. The imaging device according to claim1, wherein the transfer gate includes a convex portion projecting to thefloating diffusion region in the lateral direction of the semiconductorsubstrate.
 4. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein thetransfer gate includes a concave portion recessed toward the photodiodein a portion overlapping the floating diffusion region in the lateraldirection of the semiconductor substrate.
 5. An imaging device,comprising: a photodiode and a floating diffusion region formed to bespaced from each other on a surface layer of a pixel region of asemiconductor substrate; a transfer gate having either of a concave andconvex portion toward the floating diffusion region, the transfer gatebeing formed above the semiconductor substrate between the photodiodeand the floating diffusion region by interposing a gate insulating filmtherebetween; a reset transistor formed in the pixel region of thesemiconductor substrate and employing the floating diffusion region as asource region; and a peripheral transistor formed in a peripheralcircuit region of the semiconductor substrate, wherein, in the lateraldirection of the semiconductor substrate, a gate electrode of the resettransistor overlaps the floating diffusion region by a first width, anda gate electrode of the peripheral transistor overlaps either of asource region and drain region of the peripheral transistor by a secondwidth wider than the first width.
 6. The imaging device according toclaim 5, wherein, in the lateral direction of the semiconductorsubstrate, the transfer gate overlaps the floating diffusion region by athird width longer than the second width and shorter than a gate lengthof the transfer gate.
 7. The imaging device according to claim 6,wherein the gate length of the transfer gate is longer than a gatelength of the reset transistor.
 8. The imaging device according to claim5, wherein a channel width of the transfer gate is wider than a channelwidth of the reset transistor.
 9. The imaging device according to claim5, further comprising: a highly doped region formed in the floatingdiffusion region closer to the transfer gate, an impurity concentrationof the highly doped region being higher than other portions of thefloating diffusion region; an element isolation insulating film formedon the surface layer of the semiconductor substrate and defining atleast one edge of the highly doped region; an insulating film coveringthe highly doped region; a hole formed in the insulating film on thehighly doped region; and a conductive plug formed in the hole andelectrically connected to the highly doped region.
 10. The imagingdevice according to claim 5, further comprising: a detection transistorformed in the pixel region of the semiconductor substrate, a gateelectrode of the detection transistor being electrically connected tothe floating diffusion region, wherein, in the lateral direction of thesemiconductor substrate, a gate electrode of the detection transistoroverlaps either of a source region and drain region of the detectiontransistor by a fourth width narrower than the second width.
 11. Theimaging device according to claim 5, wherein both of a drain region ofthe reset transistor and the floating diffusion region are bent in an Lshape.
 12. An imaging device, comprising: a photodiode and a floatingdiffusion region formed to be spaced from each other on a surface layerof a pixel region of a semiconductor substrate; a transfer gate havingeither of a concave and convex portion toward the floating diffusionregion, the transfer gate being formed above the semiconductor substratebetween the photodiode and the floating diffusion region by interposinga gate insulating film therebetween; an insulating film covering thetransfer gate and the floating diffusion region, an upper surface of theinsulating film being uneven; a hole formed in the insulating film onthe floating diffusion region; and a conductive pattern formed on theinsulating film and in the hole, the conductive pattern beingelectrically connected to the floating diffusion region and covering thetransfer gate and the floating diffusion region.
 13. The imaging deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein a highly doped region in which animpurity concentration is higher than other portions of the floatingdiffusion region is formed in the floating diffusion region in a portionextending from a side of the transfer gate to a portion under the hole.14. The imaging device according to claim 12, wherein an amorphoussilicon film is formed as a lowermost layer of the conductive pattern.15. The imaging device according to claim 14, wherein a silicide layeris formed as an uppermost layer of the conductive pattern.
 16. Animaging device, comprising: a photodiode; a floating diffusion region; atransfer transistor that transfers charges generated in the photodiodeto the floating diffusion region; a power source line to which a firstvoltage is applied; a reset transistor that resets a voltage of thefloating diffusion region to the first voltage; a signal line; aselection transistor in which a drain is electrically connected to thepower source line; a detection transistor in which a drain iselectrically connected to a source of the selection transistor, a sourceis electrically connected to the signal line, and a gate is electricallyconnected to the floating diffusion region; and a voltage supply circuitthat selectively outputs a second voltage and a third voltage higherthan the second voltage to the signal line, wherein the second voltageis a voltage at which the detection transistor is turned to an ON statewhen the second voltage is outputted to the signal line, the floatingdiffusion region is reset to the first voltage, and the selectiontransistor is in an OFF state.
 17. An imaging device, comprising: aphotodiode; a floating diffusion region; a transfer transistor thattransfers charges generated in the photodiode to the floating diffusionregion; a power source line to which a first voltage is applied; a resettransistor that resets a voltage of the floating diffusion region to thefirst voltage; a signal line; a selection transistor in which a drain iselectrically connected to the power source line; a detection transistorin which a drain is electrically connected to a source of the selectiontransistor, a source is electrically connected to the signal line, and agate is electrically connected to the floating diffusion region; and avoltage supply circuit that selectively outputs a second voltage and athird voltage higher than the second voltage, wherein the second voltageis a voltage at which the detection transistor is left in an OFF statewhen the second voltage is outputted to the signal line, the floatingdiffusion region is reset to the first voltage, and the selectiontransistor is in an OFF state.
 18. The imaging device according to claim16 or 17, wherein a source voltage of the detection transistor is readout as an output voltage by turning the selection transistor to an OFFstate; supplying the second voltage from the voltage supply circuit tothe signal line; resetting the voltage of the floating diffusion regionto the first voltage by turning the reset transistor to an ON state;turning the reset transistor to an OFF state; raising the voltage of thefloating diffusion region by supplying the third voltage from thevoltage supply circuit to the signal line; transferring a chargegenerated in the photodiode to the floating diffusion region by turningthe transfer transistor to an ON state; and turning the selectiontransistor to an ON state.
 19. The imaging device according to any oneof claims 10, 16 and 17, wherein, at least in an unit pixel, a sourcevoltage of the detection transistor is read out as an signal voltage bytaking a standby time of at least 1 millisecond or more aftertransferring a charge from the photodiode to the floating diffusionregion.
 20. The imaging device according to any one of claims 10, 16 and17, wherein a charge transfer from the photodiode to the floatingdiffusion region is performed for all rows collectively, and then asource voltage of the detection transistor is read out as a signalvoltage from row to row.
 21. A method of manufacturing an imaging devicecomprising: forming a first insulating film on a semiconductorsubstrate; forming a transfer gate and a gate electrode of a resettransistor at an interval on the first insulating film; forming a firstresist pattern over the semiconductor substrate, the first resistpattern having a first window in which a first side face of the transfergate and a second side face of the gate electrode are exposed; forming afloating diffusion region on the surface layer of the semiconductorsubstrate between the transfer gate and the gate electrode byintroducing an impurity into a surface layer of the semiconductorsubstrate through the first window; removing the first resist pattern;after removing the first resist pattern, forming a second resist patternover the semiconductor substrate, the second resist pattern covering thesecond side face of the gate electrode and having a second window inwhich the first side face of the transfer gate are exposed; forming ahighly doped region in the floating diffusion region by introducing theimpurity into the surface layer of the semiconductor substrate throughthe second window of the second resist pattern; removing the secondresist pattern; forming a photodiode in the surface layer of thesemiconductor substrate beside a third side face of the transfer gate,the third face being opposite with the first side face; and forming adrain region of the reset transistor by introducing an impurity into thesurface layer of the semiconductor substrate beside a fourth side faceof the gate electrode, the fourth side face being opposite with thesecond side face.
 22. The method of manufacturing an imaging deviceaccording to claim 21, further comprising: forming a second insulatingfilm covering the transfer gate, the gate electrode, the floatingdiffusion region and the drain region after forming the highly dopedregion; forming a third resist pattern covering the second insulatingfilm on the floating diffusion region and a photodiode; leaving thesecond insulating film on the drain region as an insulating sidewall onthe fourth side face of the gate electrode while leaving the secondinsulating film on the floating diffusion region and the photodiode byetching the second insulating film by use of the third resist pattern asa mask; forming a silicide layer on a surface layer of the drain regionexposed beside the insulating side wall; forming a third insulating filmon the second insulating film, the insulating sidewall and the silicidelayer; forming a first hole in the second insulating film and the thirdinsulating film on the highly doped region under a first etchingcondition; forming a second hole in the third insulating film on thesilicide layer under a second etching condition; forming a firstconductive plug electrically connected to the highly doped region in thefirst hole; and forming a second conductive plug electrically connectedto the silicide layer in the second hole.
 23. The method ofmanufacturing an imaging device according to claim 21, furthercomprising: forming a second insulating film covering the transfer gate,the gate electrode, the floating diffusion region and the drain regionafter forming the highly doped region; forming a third hole in thesecond insulating film on the highly doped region; forming a conductivefilm on the second insulating film and in the third hole; and patterningthe conductive film to be made into a conductive pattern covering thefloating diffusion region.
 24. The method of manufacturing an imagingdevice according to claim 23, wherein the highly doped region and a gateelectrode of a detection transistor are electrically connected to eachother by forming the gate electrode of the detection transistor, formingthe second insulating film on the gate electrode, forming a fourth holein the second insulating film on the gate electrode, and forming theconductive film in the fourth hole.
 25. The method of manufacturing animaging device according to claim 23, wherein a gate electrode of adetection transistor is formed on the first insulating film, a thirdinsulating film is formed on the gate electrode, a fifth hole is formedin the third insulating film on the gate electrode, a sixth hole isformed in the third insulating film on the conductive pattern, a thirdconductive plug is formed in the fifth hole, a fourth conductive plug isformed in the sixth hole, a metal wiring layer is formed on the thirdconductive plug, the fourth conductive plug and the third insulatingfilm, and the highly doped region and the gate electrode of thedetection transistor are electrically connected to each other throughthe metal wiring.
 26. A method of manufacturing an imaging devicecomprising: forming an insulating film on a semiconductor substrate;forming a transfer gate and a gate electrode of a reset transistor at aninterval on the insulating film; forming a resist pattern over thesemiconductor substrate, the resist pattern having a window in which afirst side face of the transfer gate and a second side face of the gateelectrode are exposed, the first side face and the second side facelocating under the different edges of the window; forming a floatingdiffusion region in a surface layer of the semiconductor substratebetween the transfer gate and the gate electrode by introducing animpurity into the surface layer of the semiconductor substrate throughthe window; forming a highly doped region in the floating diffusionregion by ion-implanting an impurity into the surface layer of thesemiconductor substrate through the window while tilting thesemiconductor substrate to a direction where a shadow of the window ofthe resist pattern appears from the second side face of the gateelectrode; removing the resist pattern; forming a photodiode in thesurface layer of the semiconductor substrate beside a third side face ofthe transfer gate, the third side face being opposite with the firstside face; and forming a drain region of the reset transistor byintroducing an impurity into the surface layer of the semiconductorsubstrate beside a fourth side face of the gate electrode, the forthside face being opposite with the second side face.
 27. The method ofmanufacturing an imaging device according to claim 26, wherein, in thestep of forming the highly doped region in the floating diffusionregion, the semiconductor substrate is tilted such that a length of theshadow becomes 0.2 μm or more.
 28. The method of manufacturing animaging device according to claim 27, wherein, in the step of formingthe highly doped region in the floating diffusion region, thesemiconductor substrate is tilted such that a normal direction of thesemiconductor substrate makes an angle of 10

< or more with respect to an introduction direction of the impurity. 29.The method of manufacturing an imaging device according to claim 26,wherein, in the step of forming the highly doped region in the floatingdiffusion region, the semiconductor substrate is tilted to a directionwhere the impurity is ion-implanted under the first side face of thetransfer gate.
 30. The method of manufacturing an imaging deviceaccording to claim 26, wherein an inner product of a unit vectorspecifying a moving direction of a charge flowing under the transfergate and a unit vector specifying a moving direction of a charge flowingunder the gate electrode of the reset transistor is either of 0 and apositive value.
 31. The method of manufacturing an imaging deviceaccording to claim 21, further comprising: employing a voltagedifference of the floating diffusion region between the voltage of thefloating diffusion region at the end of resetting the same and thevoltage of floating region when the transfer gate is ON state at atransfer step as a transfer efficiency of a charge, and obtaining thetransfer efficiency as a function of overlap capacitance between thetransfer gate and the floating diffusion region; employing a coefficientof proportionality, defined between an amount of the charges transferredfrom the photodiode to the floating diffusion and the voltagedifference, as a sensitivity at a time of converting the amount of thecharges into a voltage, and obtaining the sensitivity as a function ofthe overlap capacitance; obtaining a maximum value of the overlapcapacitance that gives a maximum value of a product of the transferefficiency and the sensitivity; making the transfer efficiency and thesensitivity compatible by adjusting the overlap capacitance within arange which does not exceed the maximum value.